#it’s about the slowly growing horror and realizing that you’re seeing it just a little too late

[ackermonie]

“listen. i’m telling you again. we’re NOT telling her i got you that lego set for winning that fight, am i clear?”

megumi nods with a roll of his eyes, arms crossed over his chest. “i don’t think she’s gonna be as mad as you think she will be. this isnt the first time this happens, you know?”

“regardless, the lego set remains unmentioned,” satoru points at megumi with a serious index finger, to which megumi rolls his eyes again as he resumes setting the dining table. “the tone of her voice on the phone said she’s coming for blood. i don’t wanna be on her bad side.”

“oh? so you set me up instead?!” megumi lets go of the plates to cross his arms over his chest. “is the strongest really such a scaredy-cat, now?”

“i’m not scared!” satoru is offended, even though he’s about to piss his pants. “and I wasn’t the one that decided that beating up 8 fucking kids on one go was the brightest idea ever, was i?”

“but you rewarded me for it!”

“he did what?”

the two of them freeze in their place, eyes widening as they hold each other’s gazes, too scared to look at the source of the voice coming from the kitchen entrance.

they stay quiet for a solid amount of seconds, and you remain unmoving. gojo gestures for megumi to look at you first, to which megumi replies with a subtle shake of his head, a thin sheet of sweat breaking on his forehead.

“i asked a question.”

thunder is rumbling, and when gojo decides to, very slowly, shift his gaze to you, it’s a scene right out of a horror movie when lightening strikes and thunder rolls on cue. you’re standing at the entrance, drenched from head to toe, a cut or two fresh on your face. your uniform remains unscathed, save for the water dripping to make a little damp pool beneath your feet.

“you’re home early, sweets,” gojo tries to approach, but you pin him in place with a glare. his nervous grin gradually falls from his face. “how was the mission?”

he hears footsteps approaching quickly, and when tsumiki comes to a halt behind you, seeing the state you’re in, she begins to slowly retreat despite satoru’s look of despair at her.

“you rewarded him.” you echo megumi’s words. the 14 year old swallows hard, eyes sliding from you to the suddenly more interesting kitchen sink. “he almost gets expelled, and you reward him.”

“but he didn’t get expelled!” satoru chuckles cheerfully. “he apologized, and all! didn’t you, megumi?” he nudges the teenager’s shoulder pushing him a bit forwards so he can take some of the impact himself. he lowers himself a bit to mumble to him through his teeth. “who’s the scaredy -cat now, huh?”

“I-i—“

“i leave the house for a couple of days— not even a couple, this was a day and a half, and i have to wrap my mission up quickly because my son’s being turned into a delinquent with his dad’s support?”

it takes satoru a couple of seconds to register the words that just came out fo his partner's mouth. he immediately looks at the flustered teenager by his side, to find a light blush on his cheeks and neck.

something warm settles behind gojo's ribcage. it was never addressed, that they're practically family. the only d word megumi calls gojo is dick, but fuck, by the look on megumi's face, the way his skin is painted pink, he knows that the seemingly stoic kid feels the same.

satoru doesn't even think you realize the way you addressed them.

tsumiki peeks her head from behind you. there's a sweet smile growing on her sweet face that he catches. he tries not to smile, he really does, but something in his demeanor is shattering right before his eyes.

"satoru!" you raise your voice, a frustrated frown painting your features, but all satoru feels is the love spreading through his body, his fingertips buzzing with it and all. "this is not rewardable behavior!"

"don't be mad at him..." megumi mumbled, finally taking a step forward. your gaze shifts to him, but he's looking anywhere but you. "he only wanted to cheer me up. this is my fault."

your eyes can't help but soften. gojo watches the change of expression in awe.

"if it helps, they were bullies." satoru chimes in a much softer voice, matching the look on your face. he ruffles the boy's hair, who doesn't push his hand away for the first time in a while. "it's just that megumi here has his own way of doing good. peculiar," gojo pauses with a little laugh when the teenager finally pushes his hand away grumpily. "but he's still doing good."

you finally spot the scar on his cheekbone, one that's already been tended to by satoru it seems, but you still walk across and hold his cheeks in your hands to check it out. its really not that deep, but something still tugs at your heart.

and satoru is still watching the changes of your expression, taking note of every little one. he knows you all too well, you see, and he knows that you're about to start tearing up any second now.

"why don't you guys go fetch angry mom here a towel or two?" he addresses the children, grabbing your wrist to let go of megumi, who looks too guilty for his own good right now. he brings you closer to him instead. "I'm afraid she'll only be grumpier if she catches a cold."

megumi hesitates, but tsumiki calls for him, understanding the cue better than her younger brother.

once they were both out of sight, gojo chuckles in endearment when you shove your face in his chest, uncontrollable tears escaping past your heavy lids. he grabs your head with one hand while the other holds you to him, soaked and all.

"oh baby," he sighs. he doesn't think he's ever been happier than this moment right here. "you just called him my son."

you punch him right in the gut. he groans out in pain, but his hold never wavers on you. "he is your son."

"i think we both prefer the name long-term pain in the ass, but that will do." he raises your head to look at him, and when he sees that red nose and tears down your cheeks, he can't help but giggle some more. "god, you're literally the best thing to ever happen to me."

"shut up." your cheeks burn in his hands, and you're unable to look away. "I was so scared something had happened to him. i would've never forgiven myself."

"the fuck do you take me for?" satoru fakes offense, raising an eyebrow down at you. you roll your eyes at him, from which he takes even more offense, letting you go with a scoff of disbelief. he dramatically removes his sunglasses and crosses his fingers in front of him. "I'll hollow purple your ass so hard right now and you'll never live to tell the tale."

"sure, honey," you pat him on the chest with one hand and wipe away your tears with the other, beginning to turn away from him with a, now more subtle, eye-roll. "whatever you say."

he grabs you and pulls you flush to him again, this time capturing your lips in a sweet, chaste kiss that has your whole body letting loose right there in his arms. your arms wrap around his neck like a reflex, and he squeezes you into him, a dull ache beating in him to just merge your bodies into one,, to have you in his very bones, and maybe even then it wouldn't be quite enough.

"i would rather be torn in two than let something happen to any of you," he breaks away from the kiss to peck your nose. you look into his eyes, and it worries you just how true his statement is. "what else do I have to fight for?"

=====================================

more?

[reminiscingtonight]

And The Things You'd Do

Lia Wälti x Russo!Reader (Alessia Russo & Russo!Reader + Kyra Cooney-Cross & Russo!Reader)

Word Count: 1.4k

The Thing About Families (Part One) // That's How You Know It's Home (Part Three)

[WOSO Masterlist]

It’s the shuffling of feet that draws your attention. 

You’re off stretching on the side of the field. Having just come back from injury, you’ve been approved for some light training and warm-ups while the other girls do their own drills. You’ve been doing alright all by your lonesome, so you’re surprised to see the Australian girl approaching. 

You’re quick to narrow your eyes at the sheepish look on her face.

“What is it?”

Kyra turns and you instantly see the problem. She tries to wiggle her arm, one sleeve somehow caught underneath her pinnie. “I’m stuck.”

Sighing, you jerk your head at her. “C’mere.”

The young girl brightens up at your command, dutifully rushing to your side before allowing you to free her from her self-made prison. 

“Go on,” you chuckle when she finally pops free. 

Kyra lets out a whoop before sprinting back towards the other girls.

You’re smiling fondly at her departing figure when you hear a familiar drawl.

“Thought you were getting sick of her.”

You roll your eyes. “Please. I had to grow up with you, Gio, and Luca. Kyra’s a breeze compared to you lot.”

Alessia lets out an offended squawk. “You take that back!”

You raise an eyebrow at her raised arm and Alessia freezes. She gives you a grin, quickly recycling her plans to give you a noogie. “Sorry. Point taken.”

“What can I say? She grew on me.”

Alessia huffs, dragging a toe in the grass as the two of you slowly make your way back to the others. “The taste of coffee can grow on you. Being relegated to passenger-side-car-DJ can grow on you. Annoying Australians cannot grow on you!”

“Relax, rat. I’m not replacing you with her. Think of Kyra as your unofficial niece.”

Alessia pulls a face at your words.

You shake your head. “Take it up with Lia. I’m pretty sure she’s ready to duel Mini for guardianship.”

---

So maybe you should’ve thought things through. 

When the ref whips out her red card, pointing for you to get off the field, you realize you might have gone a little too far. 

In your defense, it really wasn’t your fault.

The first yellow you get on purpose. 

No one messes with your baby sister. 

When Alessia is blatantly fouled and the referee lets play go on without a single care that the blonde is clutching her ankle in pain, it only seems right that you bulldoze through the player at fault. 

She milks the muck out of it and you’re rolling your eyes at the yellow card pointed your way, confidently swaggering your way back across the field to where Alessia’s still on the ground. 

Alessia winces when the trainer presses a little too hard on the joint, fingers nearly crushing yours that you’ve graciously lent her for support. 

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Didn’t have to do what?”

Alessia tries to look stern but all you can see is the little girl who would follow you everywhere just because she could. You know she’s trying to be strong but you’d recognize the tearful look on her face from a mile away.

Lia doesn’t find the humor in your act of retribution, rightfully chastising you into the locker room at halftime.

“It’s not my fault! Look what she did to Less! She’ll lucky if she only needs to be in the boot for two weeks!”

It isn’t until Kim gives you one of her disapproving glares that you wilt. 

“Sorry Kim,” you mumble, scuffing your shoes on the ground. “Won’t happen again.”

It happens again.

There’s only ten minutes left in the match when you feed the ball into your midfield and time seems to come to a standstill. 

You watch on with a twisted horror as Kyra leaps up to receive your ball. She barely gets a touch on it before she’s caught on the wrong side of a flying elbow, crumpling to the ground.

The whistle blows and you can practically hear the blood pumping in your ears. One second you’re rushing across the field to be by Kyra’s side. The next you’re pivoting midstride, catching sight of the smirk on the offending player’s face. 

No one’s close enough to stop you from shoving her over. 

“You think that’s funny? Throwing your elbow into her face? Let’s see if you think it’s funny when I do it to you!” 

Steph catches you by the waist and hauls you back before anyone can test how serious you are. 

You’re still yelling and spitting when the ref stalks over, hand already digging into her pocket. 

There are boos and jeers when the inevitable comes and you throw a hand up in disgust. 

“Go on then, you gonna card her for drawing blood too?”

It’s clear your teammates don’t know what to do. 

Getting a yellow card is rare enough for you. But getting two and then being thrown out of a game? Practically unheard of in the years you’ve been at the club.

You ignore the look on their faces as you stomp all the way off the pitch and straight for the med room. You see Leah quirk her eyebrow, ready to give you an earful but you just push past, knowing full well that you’re going to get your ass handed to you later.

Alessia blinks up in surprise at the sound of the door opening.

She’s sat on top of an examining table, ankle propped on a pillow and wrapped in ice.

It only takes a second for her to realize what’s wrong with the picture. Alessia glances at the clock on the wall before her eyes flicker back to your fuming face. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything,” you mutter. You poke at the ice, ignoring the way Alessia hisses and slaps your shoulder. “How’s the foot? Are we going to need to amputate?”

Alessia rolls her eyes. “My foot is fine. Now what is this I hear of you getting a red card?” 

You glare at her phone, the sound of another message coming in, no doubt your mother telling Alessia about what you’ve done.

“Tell ma to stop snitching. That girl got exactly what she deserved for elbowing Kyra In the face.”

“Kyra got what?” Alessia gasps, eyes going wide.

Before you can repeat, the door opens behind you.

The two of you turn to see a sullen looking Kyra.

“Hi.” 

You don’t think you’ve ever heard Kyra so quiet before.

“Oh wow, you look miserable.” You’re not sure if Alessia thinks this is hilarious or sad, but you’d definitely say the latter.

Kyra did look miserable. Her nose is already becoming discolored, swelling and bruises become more prominent.

“C’mere,” you huff, pressing an icepack against her nose when she gets close enough to you.

Kyra hisses and tries to jerk back but you just follow with the ice.

“The sooner you stop moving the sooner your 15 minutes of icing will be done.”

You don’t even make it to the 15 before the door slams open again for the third time. 

“What did I say about getting unnecessary cards?!”

“Unnecessary?” you gwak. “Look at the kid! What part of me defending her was unnecessary?”

You backtrack. “Look at both of the kids.” You gesture wildly between Alessia and Kyra. 

Lia rolls her eyes but follows your fingers nonetheless. 

“Ma’s never going to let Less leave our house ever again, and Mini will probably drop by to kidnap Kyra and revoke our Australian baby access!”

“I’m not a baby--”

“Ma can’t stop me from moving out--”

You and Lia whip around to glare at Alessia. “You’re not moving out.”

Alessia frowns. “Whatever.” She crosses her arms. “Kyra’s a baby.”

The younger girl gasps in defiance before whimpering at the pain that radiates through her nose.

Lia looks a little exasperated when she turns back to you.

“Please. No more red cards.”

“No more red cards,” you echo. 

When Lia grabs hold of your hand, leading you back to be chewed out by your captains, you turn to get one last glance at the two troublemakers.

Alessia and Kyra are already looking your way, shooting you two thumbs up.

You shake your head.

Oh the things you do for family.

[yandere-writer-momo]

Yandere Baki Head Canon: Let’s Play A Game

Yandere Reverse Baki Harem x Afab fighter Reader

Otome Game AU

TW: unhealthy behavior, yandere themes, stalking, obsession, HORROR, etc

You, a famous fighter, had accidentally died in a horrific car accident by saving the life of a child that was supposed to pass away. Luckily, a deity had taken pity on you and decided to give you a second chance at life. One where you must play a game in order to go back to your world. Romance five of the male leads and you’ll be able to return to your world. Katsumi Orochi, Baki Hanma, Kaioh Retsu, Hanayama Kaoru, and Jack Hanma are the five main males you must romance in order to go home but the deity had thrown in some other mystery men just for shits and giggles. He even gave you a house that’s exactly like your old one! Just don’t invite anyone over… Sounds simple enough right? Wrong. How were you to know these emotionally constipated men have never experienced love before?

Katsumi Orochi

The first man you met when you landed in this strange world. His eyes were wide when you suddenly appeared in the rain before him. What on earth was a woman doing in the rain by herself? He rushes over with his umbrella to place it over your head. He’s surprised by how attractive you are. How soft you look… he doesn’t realize he’s staring until you place your hands over his cheek and smile at him.

There was a bar above his head that rapidly began to grow pink when you touched him. He must be one of the male leads you had to romance… perfect!

“I’m a bit lost… can you help me?” Katsumi was quick to offer you his coat when he saw you shiver. There was something almost magical about you… he was a moth to your flame.

“Of course, here. Let’s head into the dojo.” Katsumi ushered you into Shinshinkai while the rain continued to pour. He was immediately smitten with you.

Katsumi offers you a Karate uniform to wear since your clothes are wet. The two of you share small talk and he’s excited to learn that you’re a practitioner of taekwondo. You were pretty and you could fight? It must have been destiny for the two of you to meet!

He by far was the easiest to romance or so you thought… poor you had gotten a little in over your head about this particular man. He’s so obsessive and delusional. A horrible combination but one he developed due to dedicating his entire life to karate.

Katsumi offered free training at Shinshinkai and he was always eager to spar with you. It wasn’t uncommon for him to wrestle with you or to take you out to eat after training. You didn’t notice the way he’d slowly become more and more touchy. Nor did you notice how weird he was when babies were around.

“Don’t you think that baby is so cute?” Katsumi asked when a baby was sat with its mother in a table near the two of you. The baby was super cute with their chubby cheeks. “(Your name), would you ever want to have kids?”

And you stupidly told this man yes… you shared how you wanted to get married one day and have kids that hopefully wanted to be marital artists. You stupid girl! You didn’t even notice the obsession that lied behind his chocolate eyes or the lingering touches whenever he’d pin you to the floor beneath him when you sparred. Not until it was too late. Not until you’re introduced to his parents as his future wife. And there no way to run from him. He has over a million members at Shinshinkai and they’d hunt you down if you ever tried to escape from your doting fiancé.

Hanayama Kaoru

Once you had settled into your house (and carefully made sure not to invite the overly friendly Katsumi over), you ran into him on the street. It was just a chance meeting, but it was one that caught Hanayama by surprise. You had bumped into him and knocked his cigar onto him.

“I’m sorry, sir. I wasn’t looking where I was going-“ You were shocked to see such a tall man covered in scars. The heart bar above his head was slightly pink by the small encounter with him. Neither one of you looked away from each other’s eyes.

Hanayama nodded his head and went to turn away but he was surprised when he heard your voice again. “You have ashes all over your jacket… please let me at least brush you off.” Hanayama blushed when you quickly brushed the ashes off him without his answer. How brazen of you! He’s never been hit on first like this…

When you walk away, you noticed his romance bar is already at twenty percent. Perhaps you’d be able to go home sooner than you thought if you kept this up?

A shame you didn’t notice the blush on Hanayama’s face. He’s never been so excited in his life… and now it was your problem. How were you to know how possessive he was?

He was a silent presence compared to the chatty Katsumi and Baki. He would randomly sit beside you when you weren’t preoccupied by the other men which wouldn’t have been such a bad thing if he didn’t stare at you. His gaze was unnerving and terrifying. Yet you must accept him in order to go home. So you tolerated his presence with gentle smiles and one sided small talk. You didn’t realize how much Hanayama truly enjoyed your company.

He began to bring you gifts. Roses, jewelry, and clothing. Loud gestures of adoration despite his stoic exterior. You’d always thank him with a smile because his romance bar would rise with each gift… but his pink bar was the first to reach a blood red. Why was his bar so red? And why did you always feel as if someone was watching you?

His gifts began to become inappropriate. Rather than regular clothes, he’d gift you red, black, and violet lingerie. And then it was chocolates and invitations to fancy dinners where oysters were almost always served. You were starting to become really scared when you found out what his occupation was. How were you to know he was a yakuza boss?! And there was no escape from Hanayama, he was too powerful and he was too obsessed with you to share you.

Baki Hanma

You were on a jog when you met the twenty year old. He was sitting on a bench all alone looking so down. The heart bar above his head was a depressing shade of blue. Oh no! Why did he look so sad?

Baki was shocked when you sat beside him with a smile. You offer him your hand to introduce yourself and you offered to listen to him since he looked so sad. He instantly clung to you like a tick. You were so warm and sweet… he adored it. He’s never had affection like this since his ex girlfriend… you’re warm like a mom!

You pat Baki’s head as he cries in your arms. You’re shocked by how his heart bar sky rockets to a sixty percent with this small interaction. Holy smokes! You were crushing this game!

You exchanged numbers with him and offered him solace so kindly. Baki was so thrilled to finally have someone care about him. It was what he has always wanted…

Baki spent almost as much time with you as Katsumi did. The two friendly men running around you like little kids as they excitedly would take you on lots of dates. It was a little overwhelming.

But you didn’t think Baki would be so clingy… please don’t leave him! Don’t leave him, he’d do anything for you! Please only look at him! Love him!

Jack Hanma

The hardest to romance. This man was mean. Mean as hell. He had no interest in you whatsoever, he only had his goal of strength in mind. Jack constantly rebuffed you, but your persistence began to wear down his walls

Why did you insist on being so close to him anyways? He was a mess. He was always sweaty and he would train to the point of incontinence… did you have a piss kink? You were weird as hell and he didn’t like the way the other fighters hovered around you like helicopters. You were nothing special… at least that’s what he told himself until he overheard you defend him when someone bad mouthed him.

“Sure Jack can be a little rough around the edges, but he works harder than any of you!” Jack clenched his jaw when he heard you berate some of the fighters who commented on his methods for strength. “You don’t have half of what it takes to want to be the best.” Your words made something flutter in his heart. It was a weird feeling but it wasn’t something entirely unwelcomed.

Jack’s presence usually sent the other men running away with their tails between their legs but he began to like the way you smiled so warmly at him. For the first time in years, someone didn’t look at him like he was a monster. And he didn’t ever want you to disappear. No. Jack wouldn’t ever let anything happen to you. He’d rather die.

You became as important to him as his journey to strength. You were his one and only friend. His companion. It didn’t matter to him that there were others. Jack was just happy to have you by his side.

Jack enjoyed how you’d sit beside him whenever he sat alone or how you’d occasionally lean on him when it was cold. Jack slowly warmed up to you and his romance bar slowly began to rise. He took the longest to romance out of all the others but he’s the most normal out of all of them. Jack rarely sought you out unless he had a gut feeling you needed him. Jack slowly began to become easier to talk to… and you made the mistake of venting to him. Of showing him your most vulnerable side.

So when he saw you crying for the first time about how weird everyone was to you, something in him snapped. How dare they make you uncomfortable. How dare they make you cry! And now you realized just how over protective Jack was of you…

And from that day forth, Jack began to protect you. He was like a giant, blonde tank that shoved the other men out of the way. You didn’t have to worry anymore. Jack would protect you!

Kaioh Retsu

You met him at the dojo. Retsu was very nice to you. He was a voice of reason and usually would step between you and Katsumi when he noticed Katsumi being particularly weird to you.

You’d spar with Retsu and you were always awestruck by his Kenpo. Retsu enjoyed your compliments and even taught you some Kenpo. He was thrilled that someone was interested in his martial art. To have it be appreciated.

His romance bar was hidden from you, which was strange. Occasionally it would pop up with a high percentage but then it would fade into obscurity. Retsu would always give you a soft smile and reassure you whenever you were particularly overwhelmed. He was a really good friend.

Retsu was easy to talk to and he made the best tea. And Retsu always had a logical response whenever you vented about the other men. You felt safe with Retsu… like you could trust him.

And so you shared with him the truth of you situation. Which made the Chinese man sympathize with you. He’d help you get home!

A shame you didn’t realize how he secretly manipulated you. How he pretended to be reasonable and level headed. He used his maturity and kindness to lower your guard but he didn’t realize just how much you were hiding. You’re from another world? That would explain why you were so unique compared to everyone else in this world of his… Retsu found you fascinating.

Now Retsu was going to help you leave this world… but he was going with you. You entrusted him with such precious information and didn’t he deserve a reward for helping you?

Pickle

A wild card. You will only meet him if you decide to go hiking on a Thursday.

You were not supposed to meet him but you did. On a complete accident too. You decided to go on a hike in the forest to get away from your… suitors.

He was just hunting in the forest when he noticed you. And he was curious about you. He began to follow you around like a lost dog. It would take a few miles of hiking to notice him but once you did, you were very puzzled. Who was this guy and why was his romance bar red from the get go? And that’s when you finally put together that the red bars that were above all the men you have been around meant danger.

Pickle was quick to snatch you up in his arms but rather than attack you, he sniffed you. He was surprised to smell all those fighters he’s fought on you! It fascinated him.

You were quick to escape him and run but he chased after you. He was so happy to play! If he caught you, could he keep you? Pickle would like a mate.

A shame Baki was waiting for you at the edge of the forest. The redhead glared at Pickle who began to throw a tantrum. No fair! Pickle wanted to play with you too! To keep you and to mate with you! That wasn’t fair.

Now you didn’t leave the city often because Pickle was always watching… always waiting to strike. For you had caught his eye.

Hector Doyle

Another wild card. You weren’t supposed to meet him but you did at the dojo. He was supposedly a reformed convict, one that didn’t have much of an interest in you… at first.

Doyle was kind of mean but in a snarky way. He always had something smart to say whenever you’d talk to Katsumi. You thought he was gay when you first met him since he liked Katsumi so much. But after you got to know him, you realized he was just attached to the Karateka since he defeated him.

Doyle slowly opened up to you since you were a constant presence in Katsumi’s life. You were very nice to him despite his sharp tongue so Doyle respected you. The two of you slowly became friends… but you constantly had to stop him from stealing products from the mall. Doyle had sticky fingers despite being blind. He insisted he knew the quality of what he took by the way it smelled and felt in his fingers. It was kind of silly.

Doyle’s romance bar slowly rises up the more you go out with him. He’s secretly a softie beneath his rough exterior. (If you’re a touchy person, it’ll shoot up faster. Doyle is easily flustered). Doyle is also very jealous of Katsumi

You seemed to make his friend happy so he was happy with you… until he noticed a change in Katsumi. The Karateka was obsessed with you to the point it was concerning. At least in the way Katsumi spoke of you, since Doyle was blind.

“Katsumi told everyone that you’re his fiancée but I never heard you talk about it.” Doyle whispered to you as the two of you stretched in a corner in the dojo. The blind assassin adjusted his blindfold. “I may be blind, but I’m not stupid. Are you okay?”

Doyle was shocked when you answered back in a choked sob. “No, I’ve tried to get away but he’s sent the whole dojo after me… I’m scared, Doyle.”

Doyle was so shocked when you hugged him. His body shook when he felt his first hug since he was a child. He instantly wrapped his arms around you and lost himself within you. He could imagine a life with you. You were so sweet and you were capable… he had money from his old job as an assassin and he had favors he was owed by people. Doyle could help you escape.

You pulled away and you felt your blood run cold at the red bar that was now above Doyle’s head. Oh no…

“I’ll help you escape.” Doyle whispered in your ear. “But we’d constantly be on the run. Would you want to live like that, darling?”

The choice is up to you with him. Doyle will help you but you’d lose your opportunity to go home… forever.

Jun Guevara

Another wild card. This dashing man can be found on Fridays at the docks by his boat. He’s usually shirtless with a jacket draped over his shoulders and a cigarette between his lips. He is also very easy to attract if you ask him about the ocean. This man loves the ocean. He won’t stop talking about it and he may even give you a shell if you’re extra sweet.

Jun is incredibly flirtatious but don’t let that fool you, he’s also extremely possessive. His heart bar will only rise if you’re charismatic. You have to be able to talk the talk too. And once you successfully romance him, you have the opportunity to get onto his ship! Hurray!

Jun will share rum and stories with you if you sneak off to come see him. He’ll even drape his jacket around you and call you, “Meu amor” or “Meu anjo.” You don’t have a clue what that means but it seems like a nickname!

Jun is great to use as an escape option if the other men become overwhelming. Just keep in mind that he won’t let you off that boat, because he’s determined to make you his wife! And eventually the mother of his four children.

Biscuit Oliva

Another wild card but can be encountered if you interact with criminals (Jun or Doyle). Biscuit may ask you about their whereabouts but you should lie to him to save your friends. Compliment this man to distract him! He’s a pretty revered bounty hunter so it won’t take much.

He’s recently a widow and he’s easily flustered since he’s never been flirted with before. Oliva is very easy to romance once you stoke the fires of his ego.

Oliva is a gift giver just like Hanayama except his gifts are more from the heart rather than his pants…

Oliva will buy you very nice clothes and offer to take you abroad. His romance bar will only ever turn red if you share your woes with him.

Just like Jack, Oliva is extremely protective. And he will not lose another love so he’s willing to whisk you away and lock you up forever.

Just be his cute sugar baby and everything will be okay! So long as the other men don’t crash your date… then you may never get home.

Once you successfully romance all the men, the deity will appear to you. But sadly they won’t be able to send you home anyways because you’ve ruined the story here since all their bars all turned red. Sorry toots, but he can’t take you away from these men who are willing to kill each other to have you. The deity just hopes you can make a choice.

[the-fiction-witch]

Cuddles

Media - House Of The Dragon Character - Lucerys Velaryon Couple - Lucerys X Reader Reader - Y/n (Betrothal) Rating - Flirty Word Count - 1709

Lucerys makes his way to the Dragonmount, the stone entryway to the large intricate volcanic tunnels and caves where the dragons reside when in Dragonstone, where the many dragons linger during daily business. As he arrives the Dragonkeepers usher him to the caves Arrax calls his home, There Arrax was lying in his cave surrounded by hay and pig bones, with another familiar dragon, Silverspike the two dragons seem to be comforting each other, even cuddling each other.

Lucerys gives the keepers a strange look as he sees Arrax and Silverspike, the two young dragons intertwined with each other among the piles of bones. He takes a few tentative steps into the cave, careful not to alarm or anger the two dragons. He whistles softly, the way he trained to make Arrax come to him.

However, Arrax didn't listen.

Lucerys calls to Arrax again, a bit of a pout on his face, starting to wonder if Arrax was mad at him for something. He tries once more but this time in a different tone, a bit of an authoritative one this time, to make it seem like he meant business for his dragon.

the dragon keepers left to attend to other business and Lucerys tried repeatedly to get Arrax to listen but still, the dragon ignored him.

"You’re wasting your time Luke" a voice comes from behind him,

As he turned he saw Y/n, dressed in her red leather trousers and black silk shirt dress her boots high and her archery equipment over her shoulder, he blushed a little as she was of course very beautiful but things had been a little strange between them since his mother confirmed their betrothal before the court just a few weeks ago,

Lucerys clearly frustrated, his cheeks puffed up from blowing air out of his cheeks, his pout even more prominent. He turns to face her, that pout disappearing and replaced with a smile, but he was unable to make eye contact with her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Lucerys grumbles. “Seems like he’s mad at me or something..”

"Awww sweet Luke, don't take it too personally." She smiled as she came through to stand with him, "Dragons have Their own minds and intentions and clearly he's very busy. It's alright I can't get her to listen to me when she gets cuddled with him either" she explained as she too tried to get her dragon Silverspike to come over, but Silverspike and Arrax where too happy together to care that their riders had to say,

Lucerys chuckles as he watches Silverspike stay put, despite her best attempts. He smiles over at Y/n, looking at her for a few moments before turning his head back to watch the two dragons cuddle, sighing with annoyance. “They can be so stubborn sometimes, I wish I knew what they were thinking…”

"ohh I'm pretty confident I know what they are thinking about Luke..." She chuckled,

Lucerys gives her a side-eye, raising an eyebrow as an indication for explanation. He chuckled and folded his arms across his chest. He looked at her up and down, before he finally focused and returned his eyes to hers. “Oh yeah? And what exactly are they thinking about?”

"Well, as mysterious as dragons are they are animals, just as you and I. And Arrax is growing into a big strong gentleman dragon, and Silverspike is a lovely lady" She tried to hint at what the dragons were clearly up to,

Lucerys’s face slowly grows in realization as he sees where she’s going with this, his mind trying to connect the dots. His face starts to grow red as he imagines two dragons trying to… ”You don’t mean…” Lucerys gasps suddenly, turning around to face her with horror on his face, his eyes wide. “But… they can’t… they’re not… are they?”

"mhm," she nodded,

His mouth is agape as he stands, dumbfounded, trying to process the gravity of the situation. He thought it had to be a joke, but the look on Y/n’s face said otherwise. ”Oh gods…” he muttered quietly, looking over at Arrax and Silverspike, who were still cuddling together. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

"I'm sure you can't blame him for not listening, I'm sure you wouldn't want to go off on a flight if you had a pretty lady snuggling up with you,”

He chuckled his face still blushing furiously. “Yeah, I guess you’re right… I’m just… I didn’t think they’d be… in the mood for that anytime so soon…”

"they mature faster than we do," she chuckled,

He chuckled with her, shaking his head. He looked over at the two dragons as they lay together in a pile of bones and hay, cuddling comfortably. ”Is this going to be a regular thing now?” he asked, turning to face her.

"Possibly, it could be. Maybe they've fallen in love" she smiled,

He chuckled, smiling warmly at her as she spoke. The thought of Arrax and Silverspike falling in love just like a boy and girl would made him chuckle again. He thought for a moment before replying. “You suppose they’ll lay eggs together anytime soon?”

"They might, Silverspike is certainly old enough to lay eggs, and the dragon keepers do think she will be a very fertile dragon just like Syrax"

He swallowed as he heard her say that. The thought of Arrax and Silverspike laying eggs together made his heart flutter, in a mixture of anxiousness and nervousness. He chuckled again, running his fingers through his hair. “So.. They’ll make little dragon babies then?”

"they might, if they have eggs together and they hatch." She nodded, "Who knows... Maybe Silverspike will lay a clutch of eggs not long after we get married," she suggested, "perhaps we could even put one of Arrax and Silverspikes eggs in our little one's cradle someday," she smiled giving his arm a gentle elbow,

His heart began to race as she continued to speak. The image of him and her, husband and wife, together with their child, with an egg in the cradle for them to hatch and claim, was almost too tantalizing. He chuckled softly, the thought of it filling him with excitement and anticipation. ”That actually sounds… kind of wonderful,” he admitted with a shy grin, rubbing the back of his head.

"I think it would be too, One day" she smiled "When we are lord and lady of Driftmark, Arrax and Silverspike can cuddle up by the beach all day in the sun, their little baby dragon struggling in your little heir's cradle" she encouraged,

The very visualization of it made butterflies flitter in Lucerys’s stomach. The image of him and Y/n, lord and lady of Driftmark, ruling together, raising their child together, and being a family with Arrax, Silverspike, and their children together… it was a beautiful thought. ”You paint a pretty picture,” he commented with a grin, looking over at Arrax and Silverspike again, his grin growing into an excited smile. He paused for a few moments, continuing to watch the two dragons cuddle together. He imagined what their baby dragons would look like, what colour they would inherit from Arrax and Silverspike, and the thought made him even more excited. ”You really think this is something that could happen?” he asked, a bit of a dreamy, hopeful look in his eyes.

"Well we are betrothed, and our dragons do seem close so I'm sure it's possible"

He chuckled, agreeing with her. He looked at the two young dragons, cuddling and snuggling up together, their eyes closed as if they were already asleep in each other’s arms. He smiled at the sight of it. ”So…” he started off slowly, looking over at her, a playful smirk on his face. “… what if I was to want to do something along with this whole cuddling thing?”

"What?" She chuckled

He chuckled, taking a side step closer to her. They were pretty secluded in the cave, and the dragon keepers weren’t paying attention to either of them. He glanced over at the sleeping dragons one more time, the coast clear, before he turned back to look at her, his smirk still present. ”What if I said… I wanted to cuddle with you too?”

"oh do you now?" She raised an eyebrow at him for a moment trying to test if he was serious

He was dead serious. He took another step closer to her, now practically standing right in front of her, his smirk now a cheeky grin. “Yes, I’m dead serious.” he stated bluntly, his eyes looking her over and up and down as his cheeks grew flushed pink.

Y/n chuckled a little and gave his cheek a kiss, "You’re a sweetheart" she smiled tussling his hair

The kiss on his cheek made his heart skip a beat, and the way her hand went through his curls as she tousled his hair made his cheeks grow even more flushed pink. He chuckled as she called him a sweetheart, his smile almost as bright as the sun. He looked up at her, tilting his head up to meet her gaze, despite being a few inches shorter then she. “Only for you,” he replied with a grin.

"Well, you're more than welcome to come up to my chambers for a cuddle if you'd like Luke, I'm pretty sure we're not going out riding with them today," she chuckled, "Then again I suppose that all depends on exactly what sort of cuddle you intend?"

His mind began to race as she spoke. A mix of excitement and nervousness washed over him as she mentioned the idea of them going to her chambers. His heartbeat quickened, his cheeks flushed, and his palms grew a bit sweaty. He swallowed before replying, trying to keep his voice steady. “That… that sounds nice.” he said simply, his eyes looking from her face, down her body, and back up again, He smirked at her.

"All alright" she smiled turning his chin to her and giving his lips a quick kiss before she bolted through the caves "Race you!" She yelled

He jumped in shock and surprise for a moment as she suddenly turned his chin and kissed him on the lips. It felt good and he wanted to lean in for more, but before he could, she bolted through the caves.

”HEY!!” he yelled out before starting to chase after her.

[okminer07]

A Growing Problem Pt 2

This is a shorter part than I planned to post, but I really wanted to give y'all an update and let you know I'm still working on this. Hopefully 3rd part will come soon.

Lily stepped through the door frame, looking around curiously for him. Clearly, she had been expecting him to be right at the front door to meet her. It didn’t take long however for her eyes to land on Jeremy, the elephant-sized elephant in the room.  

She let out a yelp at the sight of him, her hands immediately dropping the paper bag she had been carrying to fly up and cover her mouth in horror. Her eyes looked ready to pop out of her skull as she looked him over. He looked grimly back at her, panic rising when she backed away a step. 

“Don’t go.” he pleaded, “Please, don’t go.”  

At the sound of his voice, a sort of realization filled Lily’s eyes, “J-Jeremy?”  she looked him over again, still gaping, “Wha- how-”  

“I don’t know.”  

“You're…. You're…” she stepped closer, “You’re huge!”  

“You think I haven’t noticed?!” he bellowed, gesturing down at himself. 

Lily recoiled slightly, “B-but how?” 

“I don’t know! It-it just happened!”  

She held up her hands, “Okay! Could you please try and calm down?” 

“Calm down? Calm down?!” he got off his hands and knees and sat up, “Look at me!”  

Lily’s mouth dropped, backing away. Her raised hands were shaking. 

Jeremy faltered, guilt tugging at his heart at seeing her reaction. He slouched over, “I’m…. I’m sorry.” he looked pleading down at her. God, she looked so diminutive, “I….. I didn’t mean to… I don’t know what’s happening.” 

She lowered her hands, tilting her head, “did you think I would?” 

He waved a hand in exasperation, “I don’t know. Maybe. I just had no idea what to do. Have you ever seen or heard of anything like this?” 

“N-no” she breathed, “I’ve never…..” she stepped closer, scrutinizing him, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”  

As she got closer, Jeremy felt his face heating up. Lily wasn’t tall herself, far from it. It was something people often teased her about. The last time he asked about her height she had told him 4’11, but even that seemed a little generous. Still, it shocked him to see that even sitting he was taller than her. What the hell was this?  

His stomach growled loudly and his whole face went scarlet as Lily jumped back. He clamped a hand over it, looking back at her sheepishly. Why wouldn’t it shut up?!

“I….. I think we should maybe get some food in you.” She looked around the room, her eyes landing on the paper bag on the floor. She snatched it up and dug out a maple bar which she held up to him. He slowly raised his hand and took it, put off by the fact it was the size of a granola bar to him.  

Lily backed away as he ate the whole thing in one bite, “Okay.” she breathed, “Okay, we- we need to get you to a hospital or something.” she began to pace, “The closest one is what? A forty-five-minute drive? Because I really don’t think the clinic is what we need for uh… for this. I saw your Grandma’s truck outside. We could probably fit you in the boot? Yeah, that would work. And then-” 

Jeremy began to tune out her rambling. He licked his fingers clean of any glaze left from the maple bar while he eyed the fridge. 

“But what are they even going to do? Maybe take a look at your pituitary gland? But that would require an MRI and that would-” 

“Hey, Lily?” She paused and looked up at him, “I’m sorry but uh…. Can you grab me something out of the fridge or pantry?”   

She looked to her left and into the kitchen, her eyes landing on the torn-off cabinet door. 

“Did….. did you do that?” 

His cheeks went pink as he nodded. 

“Oh uh…. Sure thing.” 

“Thanks” he murmured as she headed over to the fridge. The floorboards creaked under his weight as he leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. Surely they’d get this all figured out. Hell, there was still even the chance this was all a bad- 

“Ack!” Jeremy flinched. A small bolt of burning pain had shot its way up his spine before it vanished. His hands flew back behind to rub the length of it.

Lily had rounded on him the moment he had shouted, clutching tightly to the carton of milk she had found, “Are you okay?”  

“Yeah. yeah, I think so,” he slapped a hand to his forehead, sighing and shaking his head, “I just thought- AUGHH!” 

That same burning pain erupted within his chest. Jeremy screamed, falling to the floor and clutching his chest as the pain spread. His eyes watered as it made its way to his arms and legs which twisted and convulsed, his hands and heels slamming into the floor as they writhed in agony. He couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe. All he could think about was this abhorred sensation, this familiar sensation of every fiber of his being ripped apart while his ears were filled with the sickening sound of cracking and his own screams.  

It stopped. Just like before, all the pain disappeared within an instant.   

Jeremy’s chest rapidly rose and fell as he gasped for air, his heart was still beating like he had run a marathon. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. He removed his clammy hand from his chest to wipe his face, rolling over onto his back as he did. The floorboards creaked loudly beneath him. Staring up at the ceiling, he couldn’t help but feel like it looked different, closer.   

Lily, Lily was still here.  

“Lily?” he groaned. He pushed himself to sit up, “Lily? Wha- ack!” The top of his head smacked into something before he fully sat up. Oh no.   

He laid back down and stared up in horror at the ceiling that was definitely much closer. It felt like acid was creeping up his throat as it slowly began to dawn on him. When he had first felt that pain, what had happened? He had shot up a good five feet. Which could only mean…  

Jeremy slowly heaved himself up onto his elbows, shaking as his eyes landed on his own body. His heart plummeted into his stomach as his mouth fell open. What had been his shirt and shorts were now nothing but a few ripped-up scraps that clung loosely to his body. The only thing in tack on him now was somehow his boxers, but even those felt and looked pretty snug. His legs stretched across the room and were mere inches away from the front door. The umbrella stand that stood nearby was barely taller than the barefoot up next to it.    

“No, no no no no no,” he began to backpedal away from the door, his limbs trembling and fumbling around, “T-this isn’t- this isn’t-” he let out a panicked yelp when his hand accidentally came down upon one of the chairs around the dinner table. It instantly snapped and when he wrenched his hand up it was nothing but a broken mess of wood, “This isn’t- not again!”  

He whipped his head around the cramped space, finding it harder and harder to breathe the more he saw. This was insane! This wasn’t happening!   

Jeremy suddenly froze, his eyes landing upon a small figure crumpled on the floor, pressed up against the kitchen cupboards. Lily.   

The look on her face made his stomach churn. All the color had drained from her face, so pale she could have been mistaken for a corpse if she weren’t trembling and her eyes weren’t so alert.   

He looked himself over again, grimacing at the sight before hugging his legs up to himself and burying his head between his knees. “W-what’s happening to me?” his eyes began to water. He inhaled sharply, a tear streaking down his cheek that was quickly followed by another and then another.  

Within seconds, his face became a snot and tear-covered mess as he began to sob. He couldn’t stop himself, and it felt like the only thing he really could do.   

“I-I-I-I’m some sort of freak!” he wailed, voice cracking. He began grabbing at chunks of his hair, nails digging into his scalp deeper and deeper as he bailed his eyes out.  

“Jeremy?”  

He peeked between his legs through blurry eyes. Lily was now standing a few feet away, her hands raised as she inched closer. His eyes widened and he scooted away, shaking his head. 

She continued to come closer, “It’s okay. J-just calm down.” He gulped down another wave of sobs as she approached him, growing more and more unnerved at the sight of her standing before him, barely able to peek over his knees and see his face.  

Her hands came up and he suppressed the shiver that ran through him as they made contact with his face. He struggled to remain frozen while gazing into her soft eyes.  

“Breathe, okay? Just breathe” He did as he was told, averting his gaze and focusing in on his breathing. Gradually, his heart began to slow. It never stopped murmuring, but it at least didn’t feel like it was going to burst out of him, “Jeremy?” He forced himself to look Lily in the eye, his chest tightening at the sight of her so close, “It's… it’s gonna be okay, okay?” He heaved a sigh, she didn’t say that with much confidence. 

“W-what am I supposed to do?”  

[dilvuc]

❝FEAST❞

𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖗𝖊: horror

𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗: male

𝖙𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊: feast

𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌: jamil x yandere!cannibal!m!reader

𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌: gore, blood, minor character’s death, cannibalism

𝖘𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞: rumor says there's a cannibal at the school, but that's just a myth…right…?

“A cannibal? Are people really coming up with that story…?” you yawned with boredom, leaning back on the pillow. jamil hummed, “But…there were a few students who went missing. What if it's true?”

“Jamil, there isn't any proof that there's a cannibal in this school. I blame Crowley since he's being a shitty headmage right now.” you accused.

“...You’re probably right. That headmaster doesn't do much at the school to help his students.” the tan skinned male sighed. “Why am I worried about that?”

“Hey, you're ok with me cooking up some dinner tonight, right? Or you don't trust me to make dinner because I might poison Kalim?” you raised his eyebrows. jamil deadpanned, “...I trust you since we have known each other growing up. just don't add too much spice like last time.”

“Boo. You're no fun…” you pouted, causing jamil to chuckle a little.

night had arrived, you were given permission to make dinner in the school kitchen. jamil doesn't understand why you want to make dinner alone, but he didn't bother questioning it.

it's strange. it's…quiet in the scarabia dorm. why is it so quiet? the vice-housewarden went to knock on kalim's door to check on him, but all he finds is a note that read: “having a sleepover at the heartslabyul dorm with my band mates! i’ll be back tomorrow!” with a smiling face on it.

“Seriously…? What about everyone else?” jamil questioned.

“Jamil. There you are!” you waved to the tan skinned male. “Dinner is served~ It'll be our romantic dinner.”

“Eh? You and me? Alone?” jamil blushed. you winked, “We're mates, are we?”

“G-geez, I hate it when you do that. Fine…” jamil huffed.

you and jamil are seated in the lounge with dinner resting on the floor. it's nice that you set up dinner for you two, but…he still felt this ominous feeling that it makes him feel uncomfortable.

“Hey, are you alright?” you asked.

“A-ah. Yeah. It's just…I find it weird that it's so quiet. Too quiet…” jamil mumbled, rubbing his arms.

“Yeah…it is odd. Why is it so quiet…?” you raised your eyebrows while scooping some curry on jamil’s plate. “Curry? It's your favorite.”

“Oh. Thanks…” jamil accepted as he took the plate from your hand. you winked, “I added special ingredients that you might enjoy~”

“If you added extra spice, I'm so gonna kick your ass.” jamil narrowed his eyes on you. you brushed it off with a laugh, “It isn't spice~ Something new and special that might be extra good~”

“Whatever.” jamil rolled his eyes before taking a scoop of curry in his mouth. after swallowing it, he was impressed by the new flavor. “Hm. This is good. What's the special ingredients?”

“It's a secret~” you placed your finger over your lips.

“You think you're so mysterious…” jamil said sarcastically, taking another scoop of curry in his mouth. you hit yourself on the forehead, “Ah! I forgot to get us some drinks! I'll be right back. Don't eat all the curry without me, curry snatcher.”

jamil struck his tongue at you before you left to get drinks. the tan skinned male seated back in his seat and continued eating his curry, but…something stopped him from swallowing it whole. he felt something round in his mouth that doesn't quite fit in curry. jamil spit it out in his hand to see what it might be.

“...!” to his horror, it was an eyeball. jamil slowly turned to the curry on his plate and noticed some horrifying things in it, leading him to toss the curry aside and back away in horror. “...w…what…?”

jamil creeps over to the pot of curry and removes the lid to look inside of it. witnessing the gruesome horror made him want to vomit. now he realized what he has done, he has been eating something, no, he has been eating someone. the tan skinned male stood up and backed away, “So…the cannibal is…”

“Jamil. I bought the drinks.” jamil jumped at your arrival. you noticed the ruined curry on the ground and the look of horror on jamil's face. “Ah. I see you have not finished eating your dinner.”

“Y…you…you killed…” jamil pant in panic as he shakily grabbed his pen and pointed at you. you sighed with disappointment, “Such a shame. I have been hiding it for years since I was a child. Why do you think there are people missing? Do you realize what yours and Kalim's family have been eating from my family’s recipes for years?”

jamil gasped in horror and covered his mouth upon realizing what he had eaten. he then pressed his back against the wall, glaring at you with pure rage, “You…! It was all you!”

“Sorry for anger ya~ I get hungry easily.” you shrugged as you stepped closer, making the tan skinned male pointed his pen at you. “I wouldn't want to eat you, but…I’ve been wanting to know what you taste like, my lil’ cobra~”

“Stay back…! STAY BACK!” jamil screamed as he aimed his magic at you, but unfortunately for him, you grabbed his wrists and pinned them against the wall. “L-let me go!”

“Have I ever told you that you look delicious? How much I've been wanting to taste you?” you grinned ear to ear, tightening your grasp on jamil's wrists, causing him to hiss in pain. “Jamil, may I have a bite?”

jamil's eyes widened as you leaned closer to his neck. he struggled in your tight grasp, trying to set himself free, but failed. the poor vice-housewarden screams in pain as you bare your teeth in his neck, pouring blood from his neck.

missing person: jamil viper

╰┈➤ author note: please note that this is a slow update. i will still accept your request, but it will take a while since i'll be working on my books on wattpad. if you wish to read those books, here's my wattpad account.

twst masterlist

rules

[estrellami-1]

Writer prompt: “When will I get people who care the way I care?” Steve + the party hurt/comfort

Lmaooooo not you turning my own words on me (thank you I probably needed to write this ngl)

Steve made a point to remember the kids’ birthdays. To know their favorite foods, their allergies, to have their favorite tapes in his car.

And it’s not like it’s serious. Steve wouldn’t die from it. Probably.

It’s just… well. He told them he was allergic to shellfish. He remembered the day, especially, because they’d all had a long discussion about what was actually classified as shellfish.

But now someone decided to bring a clambake up to Bumfuck, Indiana, right where Steve lived, and all the kids are so excited about it, and he’s excited for them, honest.

But they don’t understand when he declines the offer to go, their request to drive them. Slowly but surely, he realizes they forgot.

Maybe he should’ve expected that. Maybe he should’ve known the expectations are different on the babysitter versus the babysat. Maybe-

“Alright,” Eddie says suddenly, one loud clap getting everyone’s attention. “Everyone out! Something’s come up. Great to see you, same time next week, untold horrors, et cerera. Get the fuck outta here.”

Eddie turns to Steve once everyone’s gone. “What’s wrong?”

Steve blinks. “What?”

“You’re making a face like something’s wrong.”

“Oh.” Steve debates not telling him, except that’s never done him any favors before, and he doubts it’ll start now. “Um. Just. Y’know the clambake?”

Eddie chuckles. “It’s practically all the kids talk about.”

“Yeah. Um. They didn’t understand why I didn’t want to go. Or why I didn’t want to take them.”

“Okay,” Eddie says slowly. “I’m all for telling the little shits no once in a while, don’t get me wrong. But… why did you tell them no?”

“I’m allergic to shellfish.”

Eddie’s mouth opens in an o. “Do they know?”

“Yeah. Or they did, I dunno. I guess they forgot. And I just… I dunno. Got in my head about it, I guess, because I remember things that are important to them, y’know? I have their tapes in my car, I know their favorite foods, I know what they’re allergic to. I know what to do to help all of them through a nightmare or a panic attack. And I spend so much of my time giving, and being what they need me to be, and… I guess it gets tiring, sometimes.” He shrugs, looks down. “I’m just wondering when I’m gonna get people who care the way I care. Who remember the little things, maybe not even cause they’re important, but because they’re part of me, y’know?”

Eddie smiles sadly, sits next to him. Turns his body to face Steve’s. “You mean like the face you make when you’re cooking and your sauce needs more salt? Or the way you dance a little, wiggle your hips, when you’ve got music playing and you’re doing the dishes? Or the way you clench your fists when you think no one’s looking, when you’re trying not to fidget or reach out and touch?” He touches one of Steve’s hands, clenched in his lap. “You can.”

Steve sighs, releases his hands. Turns one over and capture’s Eddie’s. “And the important thing,” Eddie continues. “The way you keep the pool lights turned off when the kids aren’t over. The way you hate to cook for just yourself. You ever wonder why I invite myself over so much? ‘S because I know you wouldn’t eat otherwise. The kids are assholes, I’ll give you that. They’re also kids. Let them grow up some, keep showing them the love that you are, and trust that one day they’ll show it back. Until then, can I be enough for you?”

“Eddie,” Steve whispers, chokes. “You’re always enough. More than.”

Eddie moves in closer. “Let yourself take,” he whispers back, slotting an arm over Steve’s shoulders and pulling him in. “Trust that I’m giving. That I want you to have it.”

Steve leans in. Doesn’t say thank you. Doesn’t kiss him. He doesn’t have to. He’s taking, accepting. And that says everything.

[rubydubydoo122]

In every universe Jason Peter Todd dies young. It’s a fate sealed across the multiverse. Maybe he could hope that there’s one universe where he doesn’t. aka, Jason, Dick, and Bruce go multiverse hopping, and are not having a fun time. (Ps, when I started writing this fic I hced Jason as Latino, but I don't really believe in that hc anymore, so just a heads up if you don't like that hc)

TRIGGER WARNING -> Child Death (it's Jason)

Jason woke up in a daze. There was shouting, and arguing, but he couldn’t really make out the words. Something about ‘ Why is this the first time I’m learning about Jason’s soul sucking swords??!!’ and ‘It’s in his files–’ and ‘Not the magic sword part, the part where he uses them and ALMOST DIES AGAIN!!’ and ‘Do I look like a magic expert to you, Dick?’ and ‘No, but you could’ve asked ANY of the handful of magicians–’

Jason stopped listening. Why are Dick and Bruce arguing? Must be about the Titans or something.

He felt a hand card through his hair. 

Oh. That’s nice.

He fell back asleep.

The next time he woke up, there was the bone deep numbness that was so numb, it hurt. In his shoulders, his knees, his hips. His fingers felt stiff. His whole body was screaming.

Jason really hates that crowbar.

Slowly, he flexed each and every joint. Curling his fingers, curving his shoulders, bending his knees and shifting his hips until the screaming pain turned into a synchronized throb.

Sometimes, Jason really loathed being brought back to life.

He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. He doesn’t like laying on his back. It reminds him too much of waking up in a suit and tie. Inside of a box. Dark and cold, breathing in stale air–

He curled back onto his side.

That was better. 

Jason realized Bruce and Dick were staring at him with that look . With how much they look at him like that, they should trademark it. Right along with Alfred’s I’m very disappointed in you look ™ and the Batglare ™. Though, Jason didn’t really know how to describe it. Kinda like a you’re still alive? Look. 

It was too much work to read into whatever Bruce and Dick were thinking under their carefully crafted masks, and frankly, Jason was tired, so he closed his eyes.

But every single bone in his body was pulsing in pain to the beat of his heart. 

A hand grabbed his, and traced tiny circles into the space between his thumb and pointer finger.

“Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, For my unconquerable soul.

“In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, My head is bloody, but unbowed.

“Beyond this place of wrath and tears, Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years, Finds and shall find me unafraid.

‘It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

There was a weight on his chest that was shifting around, until he was face to face with…

Damian.

But something about him was making some very dim light bulbs in the back of his head turn on. Wait. Talia was there, right? He remembers seeing Talia. Were they at the League?

 “ Little Prince–” he started in the League dialect.

“Are you really Jay-Akhi when he grows big?” And that completely threw Jason. Because Damian said it in English– and not in the crisp accent or tone Damian used to have when he was younger. Lowkey, it had a bit of Alley in it, which was really throwing Jason for a loop.

So… maybe they weren’t in the league. “Uh… I guess?” He sat up, “Not exactly… I’m not your Jason, but I’m kinda like him.”

Damian grinned– aww, now that was just adorable– he was missing his two front teeth, “That’s mir-macu- wacu-louis. Now I have three Akhis!” then he gasped, “No, four!”

Jason chuckled, “Miraculous.” Damian couldn’t be more than, what? Five? Six? “Alrighty kiddo, is there a reason you woke me up? Cus I’m pretty sure I need my beauty sleep in all universes.”

“Um…” Damian put a finger to his chin and looked up, and then leaned in close, speaking in a stage whisper, “My reason was Cookies.” 

“Do you mean you want to make ‘em or eat ‘em?” Jason raised an eyebrow conspiratorially, “Or do you need help stealing ‘em? ‘Cus, I dunno about you, but I may know a thing or two about that.”

Damian spread his arms out wide, and wrapped them around Jason’s neck, “I wanna make ‘em, steal ‘em, then eat ‘em. Like the Cookie Monster!” 

There were footsteps racing down the hall, “Habiiiiiibat!” Damian immediately perked up, and looked to the door, “Damian?” Jay peaked his head through the door, and then seemed to realize Jason was awake and straightened up, “Oh. uh, Hi! I’m sorry if he woke you up.” Damian immediately ran to Jay and jumped into his arms.

Jason laughed at the sight. Dick is probably going to melt once he sees the pair. “Trust me, I’m used to it. He comes to my apartment at 2 a.m. demanding food.” Everyone does and it’s annoying. Like, Dick can cook too. So can Steph and Duke, and even Damian depending on the food. Why would they go to someone they don’t really like? Or trust? Jason shook his head, “How long have I been out?”

“A little over two days. Your Bruce and Dick wouldn’t leave your side, until Alfred had to shoo them away to get some food and sleep.” Jay chewed the inside of his cheek. “They, uh, they were looking at him kinda funny. Is… nevermind.” For all Jason’s faults, he was usually really good at reading people. He wasn’t as good as Cass, but he was pretty good. He had to be, otherwise he wouldn’t have survived as long as he did on the streets. If only he was able to read Sheila “Alfred left some clothes out for you. He’s in the kitchen right now, so once you’re done… yeah.” Jay turned to leave.

That was a lot more awkward than the last Jason they met who was this age. Actually, he was pretty sure this Jason was older. Though, he always felt more confident as Robin. He could always pretend to be more outgoing while dressed like a traffic light.

Jason was a bit wobbly on his feet, but he found the clothes Alfred laid out for him. They were probably Bruce's if he wasn’t mistaken.

Then he realized what sweatshirt specifically had been laid out for him. 

It was a vintage Gotham Knight’s sweatshirt that Jason remembered wearing all the time in the cave. It had always been way too big on him, and Bruce tried to buy him one that would fit better, but there was something about Bruce’s sweatshirt specifically– maybe because it was vintage, or maybe because it was Bruce’s– that was comforting. 

He tried to find it once when he went back to the cave, usually he kept it in his locker, but he had found it empty. With no trace that Jason was once Robin, besides that stupid memorial. He assumed Bruce threw everything out. 

While Jason took a shower, he debated wearing the sweatshirt, but ultimately decided against it. Jason’s was long gone. And he was fine with that. He had his own time with his. This one belonged to Jay. 

And then, it hit him like a freight train.

Alfred.  

Alfred was here. Alfred was alive . 

And, he made it to the kitchen, but… he couldn’t make it past the door. Not when the scene looked like it was pulled directly from his childhood. Jay on a stepstool so he could comfortably reach the counter, Alfred next to him giving him nods every time Jay looked to him for confirmation. The Beatles playing in the background. 

And just seeing Alfred reminded him of how much he missed him.

Damian was sitting on one of the bar stools with a bunch of colored pencils and paper spread out in front of him. 

Alfred finally seemed to notice him, “Ah, Master Jason. Glad to see you awake and about.” Even his voice was the same. 

That was the thing about Alfred, no matter how much time had passed, he still stayed the same. The way he stood, the way he spoke. Every hair on his head, every line in his face. Jason had genuinely thought Alfred was immortal. Guess he was wrong . 

Alfred moved to the fridge and pulled out a glass container of pasta salad. “Dinner is at six, though since you missed the last few meals, I would be amenable to fixing up something you would like.”

Jason placed the Gotham Knights sweatshirt on the backrest of the chair next to Damian, and sat in the next seat, glancing at the clock. It was currently 3:00, “I think I’ll be good for now, Alfred. Thank you.” Though, Jason wasn’t just saying thank you for the food. He was saying, thank you for all the years you’ve taken care of me, thank you for giving me a real childhood, thank you for being someone who believed in me.

Alfred gave him a knowing smile, as he scooped out some pasta into a bowl. Because maybe Alfred was a mind reader. Jason was pretty sure that held true across universes. 

Jason started eating as he made a mental note of things. They’d already been in this universe for a lot longer than the other ones. They were even at the Wings Universe for noticeably longer. And then he stopped mid bite.

Alternate reality Jason had Seraphim Wings. 

Maybe… No. Jason couldn’t’ve been an angel, especially not a seraphim. Not before he died, and definitely not after. It was just a different reality. It wasn’t even him . 

Little Damian poked Jason’s cheek, “Big Jay-Akhi?”

Oh, this child was too cute. “Hm?” 

“Can I see your magical swords?”

Jason scratched the back of his neck, “Uh, sorry kiddo. I can’t exactly summon them without the presence of pure evil. But I can tell you how your Umi was the one who brought me to this place called the Acres of All where I learned how to use it.”

He saw Jay’s mouth drop, “Wait, seriously? When?”

Egh.. that was a foggy time period, “I think I was… 17? Yeah, because I was 18 by the time I was back in Gotham, and that was after… yeah, I should’ve been 17.”

Jay beamed, and leapt off the stool he was on, darting towards the kitchen entrance, because Bruce(the younger one) was leaning against the doorframe, “Ya hear that, Old Man? I’m gonna get magical swords of my own! Oh my god, I’m gonna have to make up a new vigilante name! Wait–” Jay looked back at Jason, “What do you go by? What does your suit look like? Do you still stay in Gotham? Or do you work from wherever you go to college? Where do you go to college? Cus I’ve been thinking of Princeton since I could still come back to Gotham every weekend to see Damian and I would be close enough to help if there was an Arkham breakout, but I was also thinking NYU because then I could see Dick more often, and maybe help out the Titans. Am I aiming too high? I mean, afterall I didn’t really go to middle school, but my grades have been really good, and obviously you know that, you’re me, and I’ve been thinking if I had a really good essay, I could probably get into any good school. Not to mention Bruce said he’d pay for tuition, but I wanna know that I got into the school because I was good, not because Bruce has a lot of money, ya know?”

“Um…” Static filled Jason’s ears. He had to sit on his hands because they had gone cold. His whole body had gone cold, why was the manor so cold? 

He was also sweating. Why was he sweating if he was so cold? His heart was pounding. Did he just come back from patrol? 

He huffed out a breath and closed his eyes. He knew himself. He knew that school and college, and a future was something every version of himself would’ve wanted. 

Yeah, no, Jason’s not gonna think about that. He’s gonna go back to making a mental checklist. He no longer had his kris. That was embedded in a hyena’s forehead. 

Did his Bruce still have the duffel with their suits in it? Or were they just running around in civvies from here on out? 

Jason no longer had his helmet or gloves. He had left those behind when he was holding a crying Tim. Which honestly sucked because if they got stuck in a reality that dropped below freezing, his fingers were going to be useless and in pain for the next 24 hours after that.

Alfred placed a grounding hand on Jason’s elbow, “I believe we should hold off on interrogating the older Master Jason until he fully wakes up.”

Jason snapped back into the real world and realized everyone was looking at him funny. 

No clue why though. He was perfectly fine. 

But his Bruce and Dick were now in the room, and so was Talia, so he looked to her, “You wouldn’t happen to have any spare knives on you? I kinda lost mine a couple dimensions ago.” 

Talia gave him a fond smile, and then a pointed look towards Alternate reality Bruce, “I was told not to give you anymore blades that weren’t approved by your father beforehand.”

Jay sat in the seat in between Jason and Damian, “She gave me a squiggly knife for my birthday. And then Bruce had a cow.”

Jason nodded, “Batcow.” And then blinked, “Oh, wait, you were talking about the expression. Not Damian’s pet. I thought you meant Bruce took away the kris and got you a cow instead.”

Suddenly Bruce was faced with a pair of double puppy eyes from both Damian and Jay, and Jason realized the chaos he had caused.

Jay sat on his hands and kicked his legs, tripling the cuteness factor, “Maybe not a cow, but at least a dog?”

Damian got off his chair and gave Bruce the drawing he was working on, “Please, Baba ? We can also get a pony in case the dog gets lonely. Like Dickie-Akhi and Jay-Akhi. We can then get a kitten when the doggy leaves because dogs don’t like cats.”

He saw both Bruce's fold, and Bruce had better hope their Damian never asks to get a pony, because Jason will bring up this moment.

“Wait, why am I the pony?” Jay had his head tilted to the side.

“Because you’re Ponyboy! From the story!”

The Outsiders?

Jay hummed, “I always saw myself in Johnny.”

Jason shoveled the rest of the pasta into his mouth, even though all it tasted like was ash. He could only half pay attention to what the rest of the conversation was.

“…Wasn’t that the one who killed someone?”

“It was an accident, and it was also in self defense.”

“Jay-Akhi, you can’t be Johnny. He dies.”

“Saving kids from a fire wouldn’t be the worst way to go out.”

Jason’s ears were ringing. 

His heart dropped. Just like Garzonas over the edge of a balcony. A man he didn’t push, but he didn’t save. 

A shiver ran up his spine, yet his ears felt like they were on fire. His whole body felt like it was on fire. He was trapped under a smoldering rebar, and the only thing he could smell was smoke and burning flesh. 

Abruptly he stood up, “I’m… gonna… go back to bed.” He was about to bolt out of the room when he turned back to Alfred, and offered him a tight smile. “Thank you.” 

And he stumbled out of the kitchen.

Jason was bundled up in three blankets, but his chest wouldn’t expand, his heart was now pulsing in his throat, and he still felt cold. Too cold. He was on fire, he was covered with burns. He was riddled with frostbite. Every bone in his body was crushed. He was bleeding. Bleeding out of his neck. His hands were coated with sticky red. Red, red, red. The air was too thick– He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe.

There was laughing, laughing, laughing, something was eating him alive, but he wasn’t alive. He was just a doll. A doll with a voice box that sang, ‘only the good die young, only the good die young! Onlythegooddieyoung! ONLYTHEGOODDIEYOUNG!’ over and over and over again dissonant against the laughter that wouldn’t stop.

Nope.

Nope.

Jason does not have to deal with this. They were currently on a mission. A really long mission, sure, but they were on a mission. He didn’t have time to panic. In fact, the only reason he was currently panicking about a book was because he was just tired. Even though he slept for two days. Though, in his defense, his soul almost decided to Houdini out of…existence. 

His soul.

His wings. 

They had completely wrecked Angel Jason’s wings. They had broken his soul. Even if the angel had survived, who knew if he would ever be the same again. 

Either way his soul was shattered into too many pieces. His soul. He was broken . 

He felt the corner of his bed dip, the sweet smell of jasmine filling the air, as fingers ran through his hair. 

Talia.  

Safety.

‘Ana huna

“You have always said Robin was magic. Though, Richard always said that magic came from you. I guess he was right.” Talia puffed out a soft breath that could only be heard as fond. 

It tickled the back of his brain. The part that would always be frozen in time. Watching the last second on the timer. The part that knew something came after that and before that Halloween, but he could not remember what was there. The part that knew there was something in between the coffin and the Lazarus pit, but the pieces were too fractured to put together. 

“Jason, tayirati alsaghira,” My little bird, “You still make the same face when you are trying not to think of something that haunts you. I will not pretend to know you as I know my Jason…” She trailed off, as she thought carefully of her next words, “just know I do not plan on letting anything happen to my sons. None of them, no matter the Universe.” She continued to brush his hair behind his ear, “You are safe as long as I am here.” 

Jason curled in on himself, “‘Ana huna.” I am here.  

It was a phrase buried deep within his mind. 

“Yes, ‘ana huna.” He could almost hear Talia’s fond smile, “ ‘Ana huna.”

And if Jason let himself zone out, he could almost picture himself back at the league. 

A husk of a boy. Sitting in a grass field while the promise of ‘ana huna was softly whispered in his ear. A time when he was too hollow to hurt. Too hurt to feel. Oddly, it was probably the best period of his post-mortem life. Mainly because he didn’t remember it at all.

And with Talia there, whispering ‘ana huna, Jason could just forget.

He could forget.

Jason ended up coming down to help Alfred make dinner. They were making Biryani– Jason’s idea– and it was weird. 

It was weird because Jason knew this wasn’t his Alfred. He had to keep reminding himself of that. He had to keep reminding himself that his Alfred was no longer able to cook besides him in this kitchen because of Bane. 

Yet, cooking alongside Alfred always felt comfortable. It always felt right . He never felt like he had to live up to any expectations whenever he was around Alfred. 

He knew he could just be. 

Except, Alfred was giving him that look that meant he knew something was up, and was waiting patiently for Jason to tell him. Honestly, it was a near constant look on Alfred’s face– whether that be towards Bruce, or Dick, or anyone. 

When Jason was younger, he used to wonder if Alfred was a time traveler. Since he died, he just thinks Alfred could read minds.

Or Alfred just knows them all really well. 

The rice was already cooking and Jason started frying the onions in a pan alongside the spices. He and Alfred worked well in silence, it’s just that, Jason wanted to say something. He just didn’t know what.

“Alfred?”

Alfred handed Jason the chopped tomatoes, “Yes, my boy?”

 “If–” Jason cut himself off and frowned as he slid the tomatoes into the pan, “Nothin’.” and then he realized that it would be a bit too obvious if Jason wanted Alfred to drop the look. “I was just wondering if you could eat at the table with us tonight?”

Alfred gave him that smile that meant he wouldn’t normally do what Jason’s asking him to, but will because he knows Jason needs it. “Just tonight.”

Dinner was… interesting. 

Jason could tell that both Bruces wanted to talk about interdimensional travel, but Alfred had a strict no cave work in the manor policy. (the policy had been tossed out the window by the time he came back from the dead, but oh well.) 

Jason was sitting next to Talia who was feeding Damian as he babbled about different animals and people named the Kratt brothers? Though, it was really sweet to watch. Mainly because he knew this wasn’t something that would happen between their Talia and Damian. 

Dick was looking down at his plate, like it had personally offended him, and Alfred was sitting at the head of the table with both Jasons to either side of him.

Jay was looking at Jason with a question on his face, “How come your Bruce lets you get away with the white streak?”

Out of all the Jasons who were Robins, he’s surprised he hasn’t been asked that question earlier, “As if Bruce has any control over me.” Jason glanced to Dick and back to Jay, hopefully projecting, He still doesn’t know about the vitiligo, as much as he could, “I also wear a helmet.”

Jay also glanced at Dick and grinned, “Is it because of your magical swords? Or do you just dye it? Ya know, you should dye it a different color. Like… I was gonna say green, but it’ll look horrible once it fades, but maybe… purple.”

Jason hummed, “Maybe.” He looked to Dick, “Ya think I could get Steph in on it too?”

Dick glared at Jason. It was a glare filled with such temperance, Jason had to hold back a flinch. 

Jay turned to face Dick, while leaning slightly back. “Who’s Steph?”

Like a lightswitch, Dick’s glare softened, “She’s our current Batgirl.”

So he was angry with Jason. Why was he angry with him? He thought they were getting better.

The Batgirl comment seemed to deflate Jay’s mood, “So Babs doesn’t…”

“No, she doesn’t.” A flurry of emotions seemed to pass over Jay’s face before settling on worry, “But honestly, she’s much more bada–” Dick glanced at Damian, “-wesome. Awesome, she’s much more awesome now. She’s basically our eyes and ears. She mans the coms, and sends us to wherever we’re needed. She’s kinda our guardian… angel now.” Dick looked back at his plate, pushing around some rice.

Jay rolled his eyes, sensing the tone shift at the end, “Please tell me you two aren’t also fighting. Because I came off of a phone call a couple days ago with my big brother telling him how much of a big idiot he was, and I really don’t feel like repeating myself.”

Dick gave him a little chuckle, and ruffled Jay’s hair, “Nah, kiddo, we’ve been just friends for the better part of the decade.”

“That’s what you say about Wally and Roy, yet I still see both of their clothes in your room.”

“Everyone’s clothes are everywhere in Titans Tower. You know that.” Jay looked like he wanted to continue to poke fun at Dick and his relationships, but Dick cut him off, “Steph! Is actually really cool. She was her own hero for a time, and then she was Robin, and then went on to be Batgirl. She’s basically Damian’s big sister, but Bruce won’t adopt her.”

Jay nodded, “So like…Babs but blonde?” and then paused, “I don’t treat Steph how you treat Babs, right?”

Jason grimaced, “Nah, I could never pull a Tim. She deserves better.”

“Who’s Tim?”

Bruce (the old man,) finally pitched into the conversation, “Do you have a small kid with a camera who follows you around as Robin?”

Jay nodded.

Jason blinked, “Hold up, is Tim a little stalker in every universe except for ours?”

Bruce’s face twisted like he was adding something to his mental tally, “No. Ours did too. You were the one who told me about him. Though, I didn’t believe you, until Tim showed up on our doorstep.”

“Huh. I guess I forgot.” Jason scratched his head and frowned. How could he have forgotten? Jason hasn’t forgotten any of the alley kids he meets on patrol, or the people he’s saved from muggings, or anything. He might not know some of their names, but he could never forget their faces. How in tarnation did he forget Tim running around from roof to roof with a camera?

What else does he not remember?

The rest of dinner passed, Jay offered to get Damian ready for bed, while Alfred washed the dishes. The rest of them headed down to the cave. 

Jason had to do a double take, because this cave was nothing like their cave, and it definitely didn’t look like the cave he knew when he was younger.

First off, there was a swing near the computer. There was also the normal batcomputer chair, but Jason just wasn’t expecting there to be a swing. Vaguely, in the back of his mind he remembered sitting on a swing with a sleeping kid leaning on him as the sun set. Second, there were no weapons out on racks, and most of the sharp corners were either blunted or covered with foam. Third, there was one of those toy cars that a kid could ride in, that was painted to look like the batmobile. Along with a pretty large Thomas the Train track set, and a bin of legos.

So, really the main difference between this batcave and their batcave, was that this one was baby proofed.

“Jason, would you mind if I took a sample of your blood? Just a blood test, nothing else.” Young Bruce led them towards the medbay, while Talia, Dick and Older Bruce made their way to the computer

Jason frowned, “Why… didn’t you do that when I was unconscious?” He figured Mr. Paranoid would’ve done that already.

“You passed out due to magical interference. I did not want to… complicate your status.” Bruce opened a drawer and pulled out a sterile needle, tube, and tourniquet. “And I know you don’t like having needles placed in you without your knowledge. Unless that’s just something my Jason doesn’t appreciate.”

Jason sat on the cot and rolled up his sleeve, “Nah, you’re right. I’m just… I’m fine if it’s you.” 

Bruce raised an eyebrow, while grabbing a bandaid (Wonder Woman themed) and an alcohol wipe, “What about Alfred? Or Leslie?”

“They go without saying.” They were the ones who figured it’d be better to make a routine while bringing needles around Jason. It’s not a distraction, just reassurance nothing’s been tampered with. Jason doesn’t really need people to do that for him anymore, not since he’s had more traumas that have made unsterile needles seem juvenile, but the thought is still nice. 

“What about Talia and Dick.” Bruce tied the tourniquet around Jason’s upper arm.

“Dick hasn’t tried in… a really long time. He tried to distract me, and I kicked him in the face. Though, I dunno about Talia. I trust her with my life, but I don’t remember how that trust was built.”

“Hnm.” That was his mentally tally for something off grunt. 

Bruce started putting together the needle and tube in front of Jason. He felt around for his vein, then disinfected Jason’s arm, “One… Two… Three.”

There was a slight pinch, but other than that, Jason was fine. 

Jason’s fears were weird like that. He’s not afraid of the Joker, but his heart stops whenever he sees a blonde with a bob on the streets. He’s not claustrophobic from the coffin, but the feeling of dirt under his fingernails sends a shudder throughout his whole body. He’s not afraid of needles, he’s afraid of what’s attached to it.

Bruce took the needle out, stuck the bandaid on, and disposed of the gloves he was using. Then he offered Jason a smile, “I like that you decided to grow the white out. Reminds me of a tiny little boy who hit me with a tire iron and called me a big boob.”

Jason opened his mouth and then closed it, Not his Bruce He hopped off the cot. Jason gave him a little smile back, as they both headed back to the batcomputer. 

They were planning on building a beacon of sorts. Older Bruce already had a couple of designs sketched out, and had made a list of materials that would be needed to make said device. Most of them they could find, but some of them Jason knew they wouldn’t be able to get their hands on unless the universe was a couple years in the future. Or they went on a deep space adventure, which they couldn’t because that would take too much time. Time they didn’t know they had.

Jason was currently sitting in the study, across from Bruce. It was just them in the manor. Talia had left for work at Wayne Enterprises, Alfred was currently dropping off Jason and Damian at school. Dick and Younger Bruce were out gathering materials.

Dick, who was still upset with Jason. What did he do? Dick hasn’t been this mad at Jason since Jason was in his villain arc. As far as Jason knew, they were fine back in the Wings universe. And he was concked for the past two days, and Dick’s been avoiding him since then, so it had to be something that happened over there.

Unless he said something wrong while he was asleep– but he doesn’t sleep talk. Maybe it was something he did?

Since no one else was in the manor with them, they decided to update the chart of Universes they’ve been to. On a real piece of paper. 

This time they were just titled Jason 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. He couldn’t find it in him to give each of them snarky nicknames. 

Most of it stayed the same, if they were Robin or not, their Age, the place where they died, how they died. Though they decided to add the differences between each of the universes, and how long they were in each universe.

“Got any theories on why we’ve been in this universe much longer than the other ones?” Sure, they had also been in the Wings Universe longer than the other universes, six hours, though  that’s still a lot less than three days.

“Dick seems to think that because the beam directly hit you, where we go is somewhat attached to you.” 

Jason nodded. It made sense… but at the same time it didn’t. If the beam was magic, it would make more sense, but it seemed to be just tech gone wrong, “And you?”

Bruce looked at him, but too many years of miscommunication must have passed between them, because the only thing he could read on Bruce’s face was a mixture of grief and relief, “Jason hasn’t…”

“Well, Sherlock, couldn't've figured that one out.” Jason tapped the pen on the table, “but usually we’re sent back a little before the incident starts. The first one we were in the warehouse a couple minutes before Robin arrived. The second Jason was actively freezing to death, the third Jason was an hour before he got hit by the car, tops. The fourth one was also a little under an hour before the manor got swarmed, the fifth one was seconds before I came back to life. The sixth one was– we were in the room while… The lamb was an active member of-of the food chain, while we just sat there . And baby Jay was probably spooning cocaine into his mout h as we– as she –” Jason shut his mouth. He felt like he was going to throw up. “She didn’t even care.” Jason underlined the age of baby Jay on their list. “She left her four year old son alone . In the apartment. With drugs in reach . She didn’t care , Bruce.” He chewed the inside of his cheek, but it still didn’t stop his mouth from twitching downwards, so he let out a little laugh. “I’ve– I’ve spent the last eight years trying to make excuses for her. That she was being blackmailed by the Joker, she was young and wasn’t ready to be a- a mother, that the world was just out to get her, but she– my mom – Catherine, the one who raised me– she would’ve never let that happen. Any of it. She wouldn’t’ve– up until the very end she didn’t even let me near– ” Jason pressed his lips together, his eyes burning with shame at the stupid, naive, fifteen year old version of himself who was desperately clawing at any ounce of acceptance he could find.  “ Mami wouldn’t have sold me out.” it came out barely above a whisper.

Bruce reached his hand across the desk, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” 

Jason shook his head, “I want to tell you. God, Bruce I’ve wanted to tell you for so long. But at the same time, I didn’t?” He set down the pen and looked into Bruce’s eyes. They used to be a brighter blue. The color of the sky on a good day in Gotham. Now they've turned gray. Jason doesn’t know when it happened. He just knows it was sometime while he was gone. He looked back down at the pen, “Sometimes, it’s just really hard to talk to you. There are so many times that I want to talk to you . To Bruce . Except ever since I’ve come back, it feels like I have to fight Batman just to do that.” Jason shook his head, he knew he had Bruce right now. If he had Batman, he’d be interrogating Jason instead of letting him speak. “Every single day since I could think straight, I’ve regretted how– how desperate I was to meet her. How I didn’t even do any background checks on her or how I didn’t even tell Alfred about it, I just found out and… left. ”

“Jason–”

“Let me finish.” He took in a breath, “It was reckless, it wasn’t thought through, I was so… willing to trust her even though that was the worst mistake of my life. It was the worst mistake of my life.”

“Jason, she led you into a false sense of security, it wasn’t your fault–”

“It wasn’t my fault? Bruce, I knew better than that! The first thing you learn as a Alley kid is don’t talk to people you don’t know or you’ll end up dead in a ditch . I literally found three contacts in Papi’s phone with names I didn’t even know, and left halfway across the world to ask a secret agent– Who I didn’t even know– if she was my mother, and I should’ve stopped then, but I then asked Lady Shiva ? What the fuck was I thinking?”

Bruce stood up and rounded the table until he was kneeling in front of him. “Jason, it was not your fault. I’m sorry for ever believing otherwise.”

He shook his head, “I never blamed you for my death. I’ve told you this. You don’t have to apologize for that.”

“I’m apologizing for turning you into a cautionary tale. For assuming things about your death.”

Jason looked anywhere but the the man in front of him, “Bruce–”

“Jason, you were 15 years old. You just wanted to get to know a mother you never knew you had. That’s understandable. It is comparatively more tame to what your siblings were doing around that age.” He locked eyes with Jason, “It wasn’t your fault. You were just a child. A child who had to grow up too quickly because none of the adults in your life could give you what you needed. And that includes me.” Bruce held both of Jason’s hands in his. An action that used to completely bury Jason’s hands, but now, both of their hands were relatively the same size. “I know you don’t like it when I… lament  over your death, though it’s not just about not making it there in time. It’s because I left you alone with her, it’s because I let you track down Lady Shiva. It’s because I should’ve told you to take a break from Robin in a different way, because I knew you were hurting, but I didn’t know how to help you.”

Jason knew his mouth was hanging agape. And then he shut it, “I feel like that’s a recurring theme between us.”

Bruce offered him a small smile. One he hasn’t seen in a while, “We’ll figure it out eventually.”

And Jason knows that Bruce will try. He will try to reach Jason, try to figure out how to get back to him. But there's always that one day. That one day when he feels like they’re almost back to where they were before he died. There’ll always be something . Something that sends it all crashing down. And that something is usually Batman. 

He knows that Bruce can never put the cowl down. It’s the same reason why the rest of them can’t either. It’s a special mix of adrenaline and guilt that keeps drawing them back to protecting people. In ways, it’s an addiction of sorts. And Bruce will always choose the addiction of being a hero over any of them. 

Still, Jason nods whenever Bruce says he'll try harder. Because Jason is the moon. A cold and dry desolate landscape, and when water-the building block of life- when the oceans try to reach him, he can only try to reach back. He’ll always be grasping for something he’ll never be big enough to pull towards him.

“The real thing we should figure out… eventually, is why in the world did my dad have Lady Shiva in his contacts.”

It didn’t take long for Alfred to come home after that, and Dick and Younger Bruce came home around noon. Both Bruce's got to work on the beacon, while Jason and Dick help Alfred with chores around the house. It definitely made the top three most awkward moments of his life, death and life. Since he was actively trying to ignore the fact that their Alfred was dead and Dick was upset with him.

Jason spared a glance at Dick and found him staring again.

Furious.

Though Alfred definitely knew something Jason didn’t, because he was giving Dick his I know what you’re thinking, but not everyone can read your mind look that he usually reserved for Bruce. Dick glanced from Jason to Alfred, his face contorting into that weird mixture of grief and relief.

Oh.

Jason wasn’t the only one who lost Alfred. So did Dick, and he knew Alfred for much longer than Jason had. Alfred was more of Dick’s constant, than Jason’s. And Dick only seemed angry at Jason after he and Alfred had made dinner together.

He finished vacuuming the living room carpet, “I think I’m gonna head to the library.” and to the library he went.

The first book Jason was about to pick up was the Iliad. Then he remembered where the story of Icarus was from. And Icarus had wings and so do angels– 

And they both fell.

They both died.

He shook his head and went to the Jane Austen section, and grabbed Sense and Sensibility. He went to the papasan chair he used to curl up in when he was younger. The one in their manor was gone. He’s now too grown to sit with his legs underneath him, without tipping over the chair, but still, being there in the library, with only a book for company, let him drift to the land of 19th century literature, without worrying about what was going on around them.

He was halfway through the book when Alfred came in, looking more tense than Jason’s ever seen him “the Joker is out of Arkham.”

Naturally . Jason went to put away the book he was reading, “Do we know where–”

“Gotham City Elementary.”

Jason stilled before practically running out of the library and to the cave, Alfred keeping pace with him. Gotham City High School was only a couple blocks away from the Elementary school. And he knew he kept a spare suit in his backpack when he was in high school, just in case a rogue attacked. There was no way he would stay behind if he knew, especially since Damian went to the elementary school. 

Jason leaped down the stairs to get to where Younger Bruce was suiting up, and Dick and older Bruce were putting on spare dominoes.  Jason reached to grab one too, but Dick swatted his hand away.

Jason reached again, “I’m sorry if you didn’t catch on, but I lost my helmet four realities ago.”

“No.” Dick slapped his hand away again, and fixed Jason with a hard glare, “You’re staying here.”

He blinked, “Excuse me?”

“You’re staying here. That’s final.” Dick strode towards the batmobile.

So Dick was still mad at him. Why was he still upset with him? It couldn’t’ve been the Alfred thing, because he gave them their time. It had to be something before that, “If you’re upset with me for… taking down those wing smugglers, just know the All Blades don’t work on anything that isn’t true evil–”

“I know that. That’s not– we don’t have time for this.”

“Exactly. We don’t have time for this. I’m coming.” Jason opened the drawer to grab a domino, and marched after him.

Dick scoffed, “No, you’re not.”

“Is it because I killed that Hyena version of the Joker ?”

He turned to face him, “No–”

“Then why? Do you not trust me or–”

“I could see you fading, Jason! You almost died! Again! Ok? And you keep dying! Ever since I got back from space and saw on the news that you were dead, I fucking thought that if I was there then–” Dick cut himself off, took a deep breath “Every single universe we go to, you keep dying, and we’re right there, but we can never do anything about it! And it’s not fine, but the only reason I’m not losing my mind over their deaths is that I keep telling myself that you are alive. That they’re not you, because you are my little brother. You keep dying. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you.”

Jason shook his head, “Dick… You know I can’t promise you that. Not with our line of work. You couldn’t even keep that promise.”

Dick leveled him with a glare.

This was a losing battle, wasn’t it? Jason went to sit on the swing. “I’ll stay.” they were probably going to leave this universe soon anyway. 

He heard their footsteps leave the cave, and the sound of the batmobile driving off. 

He knew Alfred sat down next to him, but he didn’t look. They watched the news play from the batcomputer. They watched as Robin led groups of classes out of the school. And then they couldn’t see the little boy dressed in traffic colors. 

Alfred grasped his hand

They couldn’t see Batman, or Bruce and Dick enter the building, but he knew more groups of kids were making their way out of the building. 

Jason leaned his head against Alfred’s shoulder, as they saw Batman rush out of the roof of the school with a bundle of yellow cradled to his chest. They watched as he grappled away. 

Alfred went to prep the Medbay, while Jason knew where this was headed. 

So he started collecting their things. Which, throughout their journey had dwindled down to very few things. Jason’s leather jacket. Dick’s phone. Bruce’s wallet. He also gathered some things he thought they would need. The list they made of each universe they’d been to. A copy of the blueprints of the beacon. He had to wander around to find the hidden weapon racks, but he stocked up on shurikens, and grabbed a pair of escrima sticks for Dick. stuffing them in various pockets of his leather jacket.

The engine of the Batmobile sounded through the cave, and before they heard the breaks of the car, they heard the doors swinging open. 

And screaming. Blood curdling screams, but it wasn’t coming from Jay. Jason made his way to the batmobile, to find older Bruce sitting with his head against the wheel while Dick held a squirming Damian while sitting in the passenger seat.

“ AKHI! AKHI!! I WANT MY AKHI!”  

  Dick was attempting to rock Damian, lightly hushing him, but it wasn’t working.

“ Damian .” Bruce said it in a tone that was stern, yet soft. “Damian, your brother is really hurt right now. I know you want to see him, but your father and Alfred are working hard on trying to make him feel better.”

“B-but I want Jay-Akhi !” Damian squirmed again, but with significantly less effort.

They heard the doors to the cave fling open, as heels clacked against the stairs, and then across the floor. There was also the squeak of sneakers, 

“Doctor Tompkins, the medbay,” Talia made her way to the batmobile, scooped Damian out of Dick’s arms and made her way over to the swing, setting Damian down, holding his face with both her hand, wiping away his tears, speaking in Arabic “Habibi, I am going to help with Jay-Akhi. Big Jay and Dickie will stay with you here, ok?”

“Is Jay-Akhi gonna be ok?”

“We will see.” Talia placed a kiss on Damian’s forehead, and motioned for older Bruce to follow her.

Jason moved to the batcomputer to play music to distract the boy. There was already a playlist for the boy, filled with mostly lullabies and slower Disney songs. He hit shuffle, and the first song was ‘Ma Belle, Evangeline’ from Princess and the Frog.

Dick sat down next to Damian, as Damian rested his head on Dick’s chest. He held the kid close, and rested his head on top of Damian’s. 

The kid had a far off look in his eyes. Like he wasn’t really there with them. It was a look he saw in so many of the kids on the streets of crime alley. He wondered if he had that look when Bruce found him. If he thought being Robin would fix it in the same way it seemed to fix Dick. Being Robin never really fixed any of them though. It just gave them something else to focus on.

Jason grabbed a sticky note that was next to the batcomputer, and wrote Damian’s disassociating. Make sure he has someone to talk to. If not a league therapist, Elaine Thomas is a good option in Gotham. She’s also the mother of a kid you foster in the future. ~JTW

Jason went to sit on the opposite side of Damian, lightly rocking the swing with his foot. Thinking for a moment before asking in French, “ What happened?” Jason was 80 percent sure Damian wasn’t paying attention, but he didn’t want to accidentally trigger him. 

Their Damian knew French, and this Damian was probably multilingual, but Jason was certain it was just the main languages spoken in the house. English, Arabic, Spanish, and Romanian.

“ The rest of the class was already out. The… monster made him watch as he beat robin with a crowbar. It was a trap.”

Jason frowned, “How did he know?”

“I don’t know. But he also knew about the lamb.”

Jason stilled. Was the Joker traveling from universe to universe with them? No, because he killed that version. 

The heart monitor let out a high pitched whine. Jay was flatlining. Dick looked back to Damian who didn’t have any reaction to the noise. “The crazy man split open his skull and he made him watch.”

Jason leaned his head on Dick’s shoulder. “Talia’s going to kill him.”

“I know.”  

The lights to the batcave seemed to get brighter and brighter. Until they were gone.

[blorbologist]

Just wanted to be brave like you

Gen | 1.7k | Perc’ahlia and little Vesper | Modern AU | Just fuckin sad

Cross-posted to AO3

--

She’d warned him.

Vex had taken her husband aside when it became clear this film was on the agenda for the day. “Percy, darling,” she’d said, all filed edges and feather soft, “you don’t have to-”

“I do,” he’d insisted just as gently. “I’m not missing out on time with the women of my life because of a movie. Not an obligation, but a pleasure.” Then, wry: “Besides, we’ve both seen worse. Been through worse. The reviews are great, Keyleth has recommended it for as long as I can remember. Now is as good a time as any.”

“Are you sure?” And she’d pulled back to scrutinize him. Vex’ahlia is and always has been very good at that. There are no lies in him for her to find, though he suspected that’s not what she was looking for. “Percy, it made Vax sob the first time we watched it after our mother-”

She fell short of words, so he went the extra mile to find some for her: “I know, I know, dear. But it’s Vax. He’s like that. It’s a silly movie, and I have you both to protect me. It’ll be fine. Please?”

“Alright, darling. If you’re sure.”

She’d warned him, and he hadn’t listened.

Percy buries his face in Vex’s shoulder, waits for the music to pick up a little louder, and uses all this to cover a pathetic, wet sniffle.

Peeking through his lashes, it does not seem like Vesper noticed, too enraptured by the television screen. 

She clutches her stuffie to her chest with a gasp. The dusty scene glides slowly over the still golden form of a magnificent beast.

“Dad?”

Vesper mouths no - he thinks, because his eyes are burning and he really can’t look a second longer. Percival de Rolo has another embarrassing, probably snotty sniffle in his wife’s (his, but she’s stolen it) sweater. 

Why the fuck is he, a grown man, getting weepy over animated lions?!

Bless his wife - no I told you so, just a calloused hand running through his hair, over and over.

“Dad, c’mon,” begs Simba - he thinks it’s named Simba, “you gotta get up. We’ve got to go home.” 

And fool that he is he looks up just in time to see the cub tug at his father’s ear - oh gods, just like at the beginning of the movie when he woke him up for the patrol - and the horror, the realization -

Percival does not say fuck because he is the father of a five-year-old. He comes close, though, because even a vehement “Fudge,” is wholly incapable of conveying how truly wretched he feels. 

He knew the stupid lion was going to die. The film is just about as old as he is, and Vex had warned him repeatedly. For all that he never watched these movies growing up, Percy was not found under a rock either - everyone knows Mufasa dies.

It’s just something else, to be presented with the desperate loneliness again. This can’t be happening. He can’t be gone, they can’t be gone. Help - somebody, anybody, help. (And no one did.)

“Percy?” Vex murmurs, and he can hardly hear her beyond the raspy breathing. His raspy breathing. Oh dear. 

“‘m coping,” he gets out.

They both freeze when Vesper starts whimpering. Percy just has time to see her cheeks become tantrum-red before she bubbles into hiccups.

“Vesper, sweetheart - what’s wrong?” 

The words are a trigger - springloaded, she spins around to bury her face in Percy’s chest with a sob that breaks his darned heart. “I don’t want you to go-” she sobs, and that heart crumbles to dust in tiny hands when she takes fistfulls of his shirt. 

“Dear,” and he’s so watery, he doesn’t want his baby to see him like this, surely it’ll make it worse, “I’m not going anywhere-”

“He promised! Papa, he promised!” He gets a shaking hand to the nape of her neck, rubbing soothing circles that do little to make him feel better. They don’t seem to help Vesper, either, who clings tighter. She also makes a very obvious smear of snot, which, really, is enough to get a choked laugh from him. 

Vex might have paused the television - Percy can’t be sure, when she shuffles around to hug them both. “Vesper - little Whisper,” Vex whispers, barely beyond tears herself, “what do you want, sweetheart?”

“I want Daddy,” she sobs, “and - and you, and me, and - and-”

Vex’s free hand takes up running through as much of Vesper’s hair as she can. It usually works on her just as well as it does Percy - instead their little girl jerks back, almost offended her mother thinks she can soothe this new pain. 

“He’s alone! His - his Papa’s dead and he’s alone and he promised-”

“It’s just a movie,” Percy warbles. Takes a moment to sound less devastated than his child. She needs him. “Vesper, darling, it’s okay. There are no stampedes here, no evil lions. We’re not going anywhere - I promise, I give you my word.”

He can’t promise that. 

He knows better than anyone, anyone at all. There’s worse than wildebeest, worse than evil uncles. Long live the king, death to the de Rolos, there’s little difference. 

But he’s a father, now, he’s Vesper’s father, and if this is her reaction to the understanding that he could die - that he could be gone - he will build every bulwark, every defense against her ever experiencing this heartbreak as he has. Fuck tragedy, age, accidents - he won’t leave his family. He won’t. Death will have to face him, and he’s got good odds that death will lose.

Death had won back then, though, which makes him clutch Vesper tighter.

One day. But he will fight for each one he has with them. And knows well Vex will do the same.

It goes around like that - the DVD player faintly whirring in protest, here and there, as Vesper keeps repeating the tragedy in her mind, as Vex and Percy keep trying to soothe her of it. 

Vex shoulders most of it. Percy is still in much of a state himself, to his shame. Bouts of comfort before he needs to take some for himself: Vesper’s hazel eyes made dark grey by the film of tears, or his grief-rough voice sounding like his father’s to his ears. 

It’s not fair to Vex, to be juggling the both of them. He hates this, badly, but struggling to keep his breathing even just makes it buck his control and throw him into more crying.

He has a family, now. Vex and Vesper and Cass and Vax and Keyleth and Velora and those bound to him by no law but forces greater than them. No one here is alone, and never will be again.

“Daddy, you’re sad.”

Well, so much for hiding it. Percy cannot exactly wipe away the tears regardless - hands full and all, and unlike his progeny he is not going to wipe snot on his shirt. “I guess I am,” he admits. 

“You -” Vesper has to pause to work through the words - stuck somewhere in her throat, he thinks, maybe wiggling in her mouth like a frog, he knows the feeling. “You don’t-”

He leans into Vex’s touch. An anchor for the wave he knows is coming. He takes the time he can to measure his breathing before Vesper says, “I - Daddy, you don’t have a daddy.”

“No - no, sweetheart, I don’t.”

(He doesn’t include the list, the tombstone-script of names. He’s lost so much more than his father, but he supposes that’s a good place to start. Let alone Vex’s mother. One at a time, or he’ll break again and break worse and Vesper doesn’t need that.)

Vesper looks up at him with streaming eyes. “I’m sorry, Papa.” She squeezes him with all her might - which is considerable, to him. So much love to give and with no remorse. Those perfect little brows - more Vex’s than his - furrow something fierce, and she struggles just free enough of his hold to offer her stuffy. Who is also covered in snot. “’m sorry. Will - will Bauble make it better?”

And oh, fuck, he isn’t ready for that. 

“Thank you, dear,” he says solemnly. “Yes - yes, Bauble makes it better.”

He lets Vesper press the owlbear (it was supposed to be a bear, but - Velora, dear, that’s a beak) to his chest, where his heart struggles to pet it. 

“I love you, Papa.”

She says it often. More than daily, more times than he can count - and he has tried, diligently, to count and treasure each one.

This one makes his face melt into something awful, and Vesper looks so worried, so scared, and it’s because of the stupid animated lions - 

He must have made a gods-awful sound, this time, because there’s a racket of tags and claws on the hardwood as a brown blur bounds over from the kitchen and launches himself at the couch. 

Which he’s not supposed to be on, strictly speaking, but who could keep Vax from encouraging the habit? And who would dare fault him now when all the de Rolos shriek. 

“Trinket,” Vex scolds, hardly scolding at all. “Down, buddy!” 

He just wuffles and noses Vesper’s ear until she wails with giggles, shoving her open palms at their dog. Those get licked too.

It’s very hard to cry when a huge fluffy dog is whining at you for every whimper and licking at your mouth until they turn into laughs.

Percy will be sure to sneak him a little ham, later. 

“Tell you what,” says Vex, in his ear. Vesper wiggles to look up at her, too. What must their daughter see? Vex is too close and his eyes too damp to make out much of her beyond redder than normal and shaky. What a portrait, what a distressing sight. “You remember what the daddy lion -”

Sniffle. “Mufasa, Mama.”

She smiles. “- what Mufasa said earlier? About the great kings of the past?” Trinket’s collar rustles when Vex ruffles his soft ears. “Later tonight, after supper, we can go look at the stars, and… talk to them. Would you like that, darling?”

Percy is fairly sure she means Vesper. But when their daughter pinches her eyes shut - overwhelmed? To think? - she’s looking at him with eyes he’d surrender his fears to. 

Would he like that?

“Yes, Mummy,” Vesper burbles, with a final rub of her fist to her nose. She then pats Percy’s arm, snot and all. “Can - can we keep watching the movie, Papa?”

“It gets scary,” Vex warns gently. A glance at the screen confirms that Scar looms, some shadows in the dust behind him. “If it’s too much, just tell us and we can stop, alright darling?”

“Trinket will protect you,” Percy adds quietly. The thump of a stubby tail seconds that.

Vesper nods so bravely. “Alright.”

Dutifully, Vex - the only one with a free arm to reach the remote, and with the least gross hands - presses play, and soon enough the thrilling music and fast-paced chase have Vesper distracted again. Even Trinket watches, with his old eyes, laying his head on her little lap.

Percy brands a kiss to Vex’s brow. As hard as he dares.

She hugs him a touch too tight. It’s a promise.

[kikufuku01]

I Love You, Always

Sukuna x Reader

Part 6 Horror House ♡ ♡ ♡ Part 7 Too Much to Drink series m. list

Reblogs, likes and comments are appreciated!

Note: Sukuna is just so precious in this chapter haha... kind of. We’re getting there! Slowly, but surely. Baby steps~ And if you didn’t notice in the previous chapter, I made Sukuna taller than he is in canon lmao.

Taglist is open, just message me if you’d like to be tagged in upcoming posts! Must be 18+

You sigh out softly and laugh to yourself. Can you really deal with two friends getting together? You’ll be left as a third wheeler and that seriously doesn’t sound like it’ll be fun at all. The line seems to be moving a bit faster now that there is an even louder person in your party. He’s talking a lot, so it fills in the empty void when you don’t know what to say or how to join Kaede and Sukuna’s conversation. It doesn’t last too long since Satoru finally shuts up and lets them talk about what they think the jumpscares inside will be like. Well since you’re so curious about his friends and this is the very first you’re meeting, you suppose you could talk to him more. You nudge him gently to catch his attention and he turns almost instantly with the same bright smile. He kind of reminds you of Kazuya, only a hundred times more hyper.

“You’re the Adonis in your family, right?” you ask boldly, a sly smile growing on your lips. What you fail to realize is that Sukuna has suddenly stopped listening to Kaede and is now listening in on your conversation with his friend.

You seem to have caught Satoru off guard as he scratches the back of his neck and hums for a response, “well,” he laughs cheerfully, “that’s quite the compliment.” He takes another step forward with you, “I’m not sure how to respond, which is quite rare, since I always have the upper hand.”

Seeing as you’ve made him speechless, it makes you smile even more, “there’s no need to say anything, Satoru. It’s just a genuine compliment from me.”

“Still, I’m quite flattered,” his hand reaches over his heart, and he closes his eyes dramatically, playfully going along with whatever you’re saying. In truth, he was caught off guard and tongue-tied at your sudden bold statement, but he can read you easily. Do you even realize that you have a crush on Sukuna? If you don’t then he might as well gouge out his eyes and jump into a river. His intuition has never been wrong, ever. Anyway, it was just a simple compliment from you, it’s no different from all the other compliments he’s received from anyone else.

Again, you nudge him, “consider yourself lucky to have eyes like yours. I’d fall too deeply if I stared too long.”

“Oh?” Satoru chuckles connivingly. Perhaps you don’t realize it, but maybe you’re suddenly flirting to make Sukuna jealous? Whatever it is, he’ll go along for his own entertainment, “are you flirting with me or are you giving me an innocent compliment again?”

Shit, what the hell are you doing? This man is attractive too, but you don’t know why you’re even saying all of this. Maybe you’re upset that Sukuna and Kaede are flirting in front of you, so you’re flirting with Satoru to not feel so left out? Yeah, maybe that’s it. Whatever.

“A little bit of both, I’d say.”

Satoru grins and leans down to your level, speaking quietly so that Sukuna can no longer listen, if he wasn’t already, “and what would Sukuna say if he saw you doing this?” Sure, it looks like he’s really immersed in his conversation with Kaede, but Satoru just knows his friend’s ears are perked up.

You begin to whisper as well, “it’s not like he’d care.”

He giggles into your ear, making you squirm from the sensation. You still as soon as you rub your ear a few times and continue to listen. Satoru drags out a hum, “I’d beg to differ.”

Your eyebrows furrow and you turn to face Satoru head on, your faces merely inches away from each other, “what’s that supposed to mean?”

The person from behind gently taps your shoulder, “excuse me? Could you guys step up?”

You had been so distracted with Satoru that you completely forgot to step up in line, causing a huge gap to form. Satoru apologizes shortly and motions for you to go up with him, “let’s just get goin’ before he rages and yells at me for something I didn’t do.”

You walk up with him, “it’s happened?”

“More than he lets on, I guess.”

Your face falls flat, “again, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Satoru just shakes his head at you, “Nothin’. Come on, angel face.”

“Okay, Adonis.” you laugh, finally catching up with Sukuna and Kaede.

When you’re caught up, Kaede turns around and crosses her arms at you, “about time. You guys were so busy flirting back there that we were just gonna ditch you.”

“Why,” you grin, “scared?”

Kaede holds your hand again and shrugs, “no, but we thought the people in the line would get mad at you guys and try to kick you guys out.”

Just then, a scare actor runs towards the line and jumps at the people behind you guys, causing everyone to shriek and laugh. Sukuna is smiling down at you this time but he doesn’t say anything to you. He’s not talking to you like he did with Kaede. Instead, he turns to Satoru, “why are you here alone anyway? Did you come by yourself?”

Satoru clicks his tongue and shifts his weight from one leg to the other, “nope. I came here with some chick I’ve been talking to, but her boyfriend came and dragged her outta here. It wasn’t my problem, so I just texted you to see if you wanted to come in her absence and by fate, you were already here!”

You click your tongue at him, “you were talking to someone who was in a relationship?”

The white-haired friend just smirks and leans onto Sukuna, “don’t let your boyfriend and/or girlfriend stop you from finding true love.”

“Gosh,” Kaede sighs, shaking her head at the promiscuous man.

♡ ♡ ♡

Finally, the time has come. Your group is all the way at the front just waiting to be let in after the group in front of you. They let specifically a group of 4-6 in after about five minutes to let the previous group get a bitch further away, to avoid any collision. The fact that the horror house is two levels is kind of nerve wrecking but at least there’s a big green slide with a ball pit at the bottom that you come out of to relieve all the built-up stress. Whoever came up with the idea of the end escape being a slide needs a reward, you think. The employee greets you all and hands each of you a small paper with directions.

“Make sure to thoroughly explore the house and have fun. We ask that no one resorts to physical violence, as this is all part of an experience, so with that, welcome to the horror house.” She explains and finally lets your group in. Everyone is walking slowly and cautiously, watching for anything that seems off. The place is completely dark, aside from the blinking lights and some glowing arrows that let you know where to go. Sukuna has managed to get beside you, making sure that there’s no one creeping up on you while Satoru and Kaede walk behind you with the two other strangers. Okay, to be honest, you’re on high alert. Watching scary movies and actually being in this kind of situation are two completely different things. Your heart is pounding fast as the adrenaline of being surprised rushes through you. As you guys explore the first floor, there are only small jumpscares. They’re really random, but since it’s all sensors, it’s not too bad. The floors creek beneath every step and there is a faint crying coming from one of the rooms.

You each enter one by one, and you can feel Kaede clutch onto the back of your shirt, causing you to stiffen. Sukuna is still quiet, but his friend is being funnily loud. He’s purposefully screaming and making fake crying sounds as well to have fun and it really lightens the mood, since the couple in the back is laughing along with you guys. You guys all disperse in the room, just looking around and chatting when a hand from under the bed grabs Sukuna's ankle and he jumps before walking away. He makes his way towards you again but Kaede shrieks, grabbing everyone's attention. Coming out from under the bed is a woman dressed in white with long black hair and blood down her cheeks. She’s crawling at you guys’ petty fucking fast, so you let out a small scream and book it for the door, ditching everyone else. They all follow after you, a mixture of laughter decorating the air. Right at that moment, someone comes running at you guys in the dark and manages to grab one of the strangers.

“Ah! Help me!”

He screams desperately while Sukuna laughs and manages to help free him. By now, you guys hear the next group of people getting ready to be let in and another scare worker jumps out at you guys, which makes you panic and disperse. Satoru ended up screaming the loudest and ran up the stairs with the strangers while you, Kaede and Sukuna ran for the elevator. Whether the elevator is meant to stall or not, it’s creepy. The light from above flashes and you’re stuck to the side of the elevator wall, which sounded hollow when you bumped against it. You’re behind Sukuna, leaving the space behind Kaede empty and through the small flashes of light, you can see that Kaede is visibly shaking but she’s trying to laugh off her fear. You, on the other hand, prefer to keep your ego and act like you aren’t that scared. Just as the elevator shakes, you all hear crying from the elevator. It’s coming from behind you guys and again, it’s a woman. You’re a bit scared even though you know she’s just an actress, but it all disappears when you see that Sukuna suddenly reaches for Kaede’s hand.

“Don’t look at her,” he tells her, trying to reassure her that it’s okay and fake. Still, Kaede’s head tries to look back while a small cry comes out from her. She begins to let out soft, broken whimpers as she looks from the corners of her eyes.

Again, he speaks in a low voice, “don’t look at her, Kaede.”

By now, she’s straight up shaking and crying. You see Kaede’s head slowly turning around to look behind her, despite what Sukuna is saying.

“Don’t look!”

Sukuna’s hand rises and grips Kaede’s head. He pulls her into his chest to shield her from the actress in the back. Whoever is watching the security footage must think this scene is really romantic and they’re probably pitying you for being a third wheel in this. Your prayers have been heard because the elevator finally dings and you reach the second floor. All of this didn’t even last that long but it felt like forever. How funny is that? You watch them scurry out without you and you follow after. Just then, a cold hand grips your upper arm and yanks you towards them.

“Huh?!”

In your state of shock, you look up and see that it’s Satoru. That jerk! “Oh,” he beams, “thank god it’s the right person! I mean, even if it was Kaede it would’ve been fine, but my target was you!”

Your mouth falls agape but you laugh upon the realization that it’s him, “you scared me!”

“That was the point, y/n. We were waiting for you guys so we could continue, right?” Satoru asks behind him, directing his question to the two strangers. He must’ve become friends with them for now, seeing as they’re all talking informally. The couple agrees and he releases you while pointing ahead at Sukuna, who is busy patting Kaede’s shoulder, “why is she crying? Did you break her heart or something?”

“Oh, no. Kaede doesn’t do that good with horror,” you laugh, jogging to catch up with the rest. The second floor of the horror house had more scare impact and involved more actors. They did not hesitate to scream at you, chase you and even grab you. But the ending is fun. There are two employees waiting and asking if it was fun, then they give you each a stamp of success and send you down the slide one by one. All in all, it was a pretty fun experience, aside from feeling kind of left out here and there. You’re just glad that Sukuna’s friend kept you feeling involved.

(A/n: I know I didn’t describe the experience that scary, but let’s just pretend that it is super scary, okay? Okay lol.)

“I’m kind of hungry again,” Kaede sniffles, wiping at her tear-stained face.

You pout at her and help wipe the tears away with a small laugh, “you’re such a scaredy cat, Kaede~” You tease her lightheartedly, choosing to forget the way you felt inside. She was scared and Sukuna was just being a good friend and consoling her when you couldn’t. You’re glad that he was there to “protect” her or whatever, since you might’ve ditched her if you were alone with her.

“As if you aren’t. I saw you getting scared silently,” Sukuna snickers, pinching at your cheeks with a hard grip. It makes you wince, and you hurriedly swat his hands away from you, “stop pinching me! It hurts!”

The table you guys find is again, luckily big enough for you all. Satoru sits next to Sukuna, “what happened in the elevator anyway? I took the stairs and almost pissed myself.”

Sukuna’s lips jut out as he fumbles with a straw wrapper the previous people had left behind, “I guess the point in entering the elevator was for a predictable scare. You know it’s coming but I guess it’s still unnerving. Someone was in there with us, but I don’t know when they entered.”

You think back to the hollow walls and clap your hands, “the walls were hollow so there must’ve been a crawl space for someone to hide and then when everyone is distracted, they come out quietly and boom, she’s in and crying.”

Satoru coos towards Kaede and chuckles in a high-pitched tone, “that’s what got you crying? Poor girl.”

“Don’t talk about it.”

Kaede begins to hide behind her hands at the embarrassment, but it only makes them tease her more. Your eyes linger on Satoru, and you giggle, “what happened with the two strangers?”

He blows a few raspberries and acts shy, like Kaede, “well they had someone hiding somewhere too and they chased our asses up the stairs at inhuman speed.” His eyes widen and he grabs Sukuna’s forearm, “they must’ve trained hard and hired the fastest crawler! I don’t even know how many times they grabbed my ankle alone.”

“I should’ve taken the stairs,” you let out, your tone sounding a tiny bit… petty. Sukuna isn’t even looking at you. He’s more focused on whatever Satoru is doing (he’s acting cute… in a cringy way, on purpose).

There’s a grin on your lips as you look around. The lines for food seem pretty long, so you speak, “two of us should order. Is everyone okay with the same thing?”

“I don’t mind,” Kaede comments.

“Me either.”

“Okay, I’ll go order. You guys make sure no one else tries to sit here.” You stand up and Satoru does too, “I’ll come along.”

“No, I will,” Sukuna grunts, standing as well. You look at both men with a straight face, “so who will it be?”

Satoru pouts, “I can’t let you pay for all of it. I’ll come with you and it’ll be my treat.”

“I’ll go with her, Satoru. Just watch our shit.”

“But–”

“If you want to pay so badly then give me your card,” Sukuna smirks, holding his hand out.

Satoru just smiles along and hands him the card in a defeated way, waving a small ‘bye’ to you before sitting down again and talking to Kaede. You’re already walking since you don’t want the line to form even longer.

“Yo.”

“Yo,” you respond, waiting for him to catch up.

Sukuna waits behind you in line, hovering right above you. You’re not surprised when he lays his chin on the top of your head while his hands stay stuffed in his pockets, “can I ask you something?”

You nod, “go ahead.”

There he goes, being all silent again. What game is he playing this time? You both step up in sync and you’re about to break contact with him so you can hold a proper conversation, but he finally opens his mouth again.

“What’s up with you calling Satoru ‘Adonis’?”

It’s really just a name, no true meaning to it. Still, you grin, “jealous or something?”

“A bit,” he admits. You’re caught off guard. He’s jealous? Ryomen Sukuna? Jealous? There’s just no way. What would he even be jealous about?

“What?” You can hear your own voice and the surprise that’s laced in it. Upon feeling the pace of your heart speed up, you try to focus on your surroundings as a distraction. You listen in on the loud chatter from all directions, you smell all the tempting scents that engulf the area, and your eyes focus on the many bright lights that flash with life. The heat of Sukuna’s body keeps you on your toes as well, since he’s been so out of character as of lately.

Sukuna’s chin still lays on top of your head and he steps even closer, pressing his chest into your back, “I am jealous.”

“Why would you be?”

Is it normal for friends to be jealous? Surely to some extent, right? But what would you know? This is the first time it’s happened, for the both of you, maybe. Sukuna exhales slowly from his mouth, “just am.”

You’re a bit shocked at his honestly, to say the least, but at least he feels comfortable enough to let you know these things. Your smile grows mischievous, and you spin around to face him, breaking his current skin contact with you, “okay, then I’ll call you Ares.”

“Change his.”

Sukuna’s tone falls dead and the look in his eyes is something you can’t really decipher. Why does he look like that? Are you tripping or does he look a bit hurt? Whatever it is, it makes you want to tease him more, so you do. You chuckle, “he can be Apollo.”

Sukuna’s jaw hangs, “you can’t be serious. He still has a name with good meaning.”

“Then he can stick with Adonis. It just means he’s a pretty man, Sukuna.”

He looks away from you, choosing to look elsewhere, “whatever. I don’t care anymore.”

Score. Just the reaction you were looking for. It makes you push into his chest with your index finger, “someone’s jealous.”

“I’m not,” he spits out.

“Yes, you are.”

“Are not.”

“Are too.”

Sukuna glares at you with irritation growing in his eyes, “shut up.”

It only makes you want to keep going, so you hold your nose up high and mighty, “and if I don’t want to?”

By now, you’re not fazed at the fact that he lowers his face down. It’s happened so much that you know not to get surprised. Sukuna’s eyes squint as he stares into yours and he keeps a heavy frown on his lips as he speaks to you, “then I’ll simply give you a reason to shut up.”

This specific threat has you nervous. Is he implying that he’d kiss you? No way, he wouldn’t. You scoff in his face with a frown as well, “you wouldn’t dare.”

Just like that, a smirk grows on his lips and he lowers himself even more, all while keeping eye contact, “dare me.”

Okay okay, he wins. You groan and back away with defeat, “no way.”

Sukuna is back to being a smug little asshole and drapes his heavy ass arm around your shoulders, “that’s what I thought.”

The rest of the night is filled with continuous laughter, but your eyes can’t seem to leave Sukuna while your hand clutches onto your phone. You’re filled with horrid guilt and it’s gnawing at your heart every time you think of Kazuya. Satoru’s been talking to you an awful lot though, mainly to fill in the long spaces of silence you trail. He actually talks a lot, like that one annoying kid that just won’t shut up. He is tolerable, however. Perhaps it’s because he’s hilarious that it’s not too bad. Sukuna only talks to you here and there, just like before, but after the tension from before, you’re unsure of what to say.

♡ ♡ ♡

Another month has passed and you haven’t been keeping count on how long you’ve known Sukuna now. He’s part of your daily routine, but so is Kazuya. You feel bad for the man, since you know he’s openly pining for you, but you just can’t seem to feel the same way. He’s sweet, so sweet, but he feels more like a friend. Every time you’ve brought it up, he’d always say that he was patient and was willing to take things however slow you wanted. So, bad life decisions start with bad influences, right? If you were being completely honest, you think Sukuna isn’t enough to confirm your curiosity. He’s one of the main things in your life at the moment, so testing this theory out with him just wouldn’t work. You have to try it out with someone else, to see if you feel the same way you do with them as you do around Sukuna. It all doesn’t make that much sense, right? You know. But it’s something you’re willing to try. You had asked Sukuna to take you to a party or something, since he claims he has other friends. You weren’t sure when you were going to get a response, since he ignored you. You even mentioned going to the club together so you could start your little mission (Sukuna has no idea what your theory is, in fact, he has no idea what’s going on in that bizarre head of yours).

“Y/n?”

Your mother’s voice comes from down the hall, so you peek out of your room and look at her with wide eyes, “yes?” She’s got on her fancy little dress and an extravagant coat, the one your dad got her last year, and marches towards you with a bright smile, “you remember what today is, right?”

“How could I forget,” you sigh, “go have fun on your anniversary. Please use safety.”

She laughs joyously, “why? Don’t you want a little sibling?”

The gag you release is over the top and exaggerated but it only ends with the both of you sharing a laugh. Still, the thought of your parents fucking like rabbits is not something you want to imagine. Your fingers find place in her curls and you’re helping her fix them in place before she leaves, “I’m watching all of Ayumi’s kids tonight, right?”

“Oh, no,” she giggles a bit and waltzes into your room to take another look in the mirror, “you’re only watching her youngest today. That cousin of yours,” her lips pop as she reapplies her lipstick, “always popping out kids left and right.”

You stare at the back of her figure with a crooked grin, “she only has three kids, mom. I’m thrilled to be an aunt, at least.”

“Yeah well, don’t wait up for us. Your father has plans so we might not make it back home. Ayumi said she’d drop her kids off in a bit, so until then, sit still and don’t try going anywhere.”

You follow her out to the door and give your dad a side hug in the meantime, “don’t worry about me. Just don’t have too much fun, alright?”

Your dad bursts out laughing and ruffles your hair, “don’t feel threatened, sweetheart. You’ll still be my favorite.”

“The age gap between us will be crazy,” you sulk, knowing that they’re only playing.

After a small time of bickering, they finally leave and it’s not long before Ayumi pulls up. Her hair is chopped over her shoulders and she has big bright eyes, even after birthing three children. She hurries over to you with Hotaru in her arms, “y/n! I’ve missed you.”

You hug her back and immediately take Hotaru from her, “where are your other two boys?”

Ayumi welcomes herself in and places a duffel filled with baby items onto the couch, “sorry for coming to drop him off last minute. I know that you’re busy and all too but, Asa and I wanted to take our boys to Disneyland, and it would be a bit of a hassle to bring Hotaru since he’s only one and a half. His brothers are really naughty and run off a lot.”

Her explanation certainly earns your pity. It must be tough being a mom and all. After a bit of catching up, she tells you all of the basics and that he’s not fussy so today should fly by in an instant, though you know it’s not anything she can promise. You take a good look at Hotaru and see that he has big doe eyes, soft puffy cheeks and a cute bowl cut hairstyle. He’s pretty cute, if you say so yourself. It’s also a good thing that he doesn’t particularly seem picky with whoever is holding him either.

“Hotaru can babble here and there and converse with you just a tiny bit so it shouldn’t be too hard to read him when he needs something,” she looks at the time of her phone and then back at you, “he’s also learning how to walk, so he can stumble about for a bit before his legs grow tired. He’s a pretty fast learner so just watch him because he likes to wander when he gets comfortable around you. Other than that, he’s an easy kid to watch. I can’t thank you enough, y/n.”

You jump a bit to readjust Hotaru on your hips and shake your head with a soft smile, “I really don’t mind at all. If you ever need me to watch Hotaru or the other two, just let me know beforehand. Go have fun, I bet they’re all waiting for you in the car.”

Ayumi reaches over and coos at him for a few more seconds before kissing his cheek and eventually leaving. You both wave bye to the car and then you turn back around to enter the house. You place Hotaru down on the couch and tap your foot against the floor as you look for something to put on for him. The first hour seems to go by just fine. All you did was feed him and watch tv with him.

Sukuna ^.^: I’m bored.

Halfie: Go play then.

Sukuna ^.^: I’m on my way.

Halfie: I’m busy today. Go play with Kaede.

Sukuna ^.^: I already did. She had to leave early.

That annoys you. It bothers you a lot. Now you feel a sudden prick in the back of your neck and you know that it’s just unreasonable irritation spiking. You look down at Hotaru, who is staring right back at you. He’s not that expressive… but at least he’s not crying?

Halfie: You can’t come.

Now you’re even more annoyed. Why? Because that fucker left you on read. Out of boredom, you grab Hotaru’s baby duffel and dig through it. There are lots of diapers, toys and packaged food and flavored rice puff snacks. You gently poke at Hotaru’s chubby stomach, “aye, can you eat solids already? I don’t see formula here.” All he does is smile and nod. You have to admit that the atmosphere is a bit awkward due to the fact that you two have no prior interaction at all. Are you doing well for the first meeting? He’s a baby, so it shouldn’t matter, right? You continue to watch whatever is on the screen and it’s quiet for a long while until you hear your phone buzz.

Sukuna ^.^: I’m here.

Sukuna ^.^: Open your window for me.

You take a moment to look at Hotaru once more. His hands are focused on playing with a toy while his eyes remain on the tv, so leaving him alone for a short second wouldn’t hurt. He won’t even know what’s going on. With that in mind, you stand from the couch and dash to your room. Your eyes glare daggers at Sukuna through the window as he waits to be let in.

“Hurry,” he mouths.

You’re only quick to let him in because you have a child in need in the other room. You can see that he’s surprised by your obedience though. He crawls in quickly and shuts the window, “your door is open you know? What if your folks see me?”

“I said I was busy, yet you still decided to come. How ignorant,” you spit out, crossing your arms at him. Sukuna’s frown drags deeper at your comment, “what’s up your ass today?”

You move out of his way, “nothing. My parents aren’t home, but please behave.”

His eyes grow mischievous at that, “really? As in, I’m free to walk around?”

“Yes, but my hands are tied, so behave.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m watching my nephew today,” you’re already leaving your room with him trailing behind, “so you won’t have fun today.”

Sukuna groans out loud, “he can take care of himself.”

He steps into your living room and his eyes fall on the couch and the small head of hair that peeks out. Him being naturally curious, he comes closer, and his fingers grab at the soft locks, “oh. He’s younger than I imagined.”

“Yes,” you laugh out loud and sit back down on the couch again, “which is exactly why you wasted your time coming here. There’ll be nothing for you to do.”

Sukuna wastes no time in stepping over the couch to seat himself between you and Hotaru, “well I guess I can help you watch the kid. I don’t know how to, but there’s always a first for everything, right?”

The way he smiles in a determined way has your heart pounding just a slight bit harder and you’re not sure how to decipher it. You don’t know whether you’re anxious about Sukuna or if you find his efforts endearing in some way. The two of you are pretty busy with Hotaru throughout the day but Sukuna seems to be having a bit of fun, even if he denies it. The reason why you say this is because he’s actually laughing with the kid as they play. Oh, and he’s also eating the rice puff snacks too. You think he ate more than Hotaru did but that’s not too big of a deal, you think. Ayumi didn’t mention that it’d be hard to get the kid to fall asleep. You and Sukuna have been trying to wear him out for a while now, but the kid won’t get tired. When you think about it, Sukuna has probably been here for about seven hours, since it’s 6pm now. You fed Hotaru and Sukuna about two hours ago, so they should be fine for now which means you can relax a bit more. You really thought that Hotaru might be frightened by the man but he’s surprisingly a fan of him, given he’s laughing a lot right now as you make your way back to them.

“What’s so funny?”

Hotaru beams at you innocently and points to Sukuna. He’s currently crashing two toy buses and making dramatic sound effects. He even goes as far as making a high-pitched woman-like voice that screeches for help. The whole thing isn’t a laughing matter at all; it’s quite concerning. Still, you’re just glad that Sukuna is here. A long yawn comes out from your mouth as you silently stretch behind them. Since it seems like Sukuna is pretty reliable and comfortable being alone with Hotaru, you figure it can’t hurt to lay down for a bit.

“I’ll be right back,” you say as you get up. Sukuna doesn’t even glance back at you, since he’s so busy acting out a crime scene with your laughing nephew. All he does is hum a short “mhm” then proceeds with his stupid little skit. Oh well. Your back finds solace in your soft bed and you only meant to close your eyes for a few seconds. Well, a few seconds happened to turn into half an hour.

In Sukuna’s mind, he’s wondering where the fuck you went. Why did you leave him alone with the kid? Don’t tell him you went out and ditched him here. He did not come here to babysit. In fact, he came here for you, not the kid! His impatient eyes scan the area once more and he pouts when you’re nowhere in sight. The only noise is the sound emitting from whatever show is playing on the tv. His attention is brought back when he sees Hotaru’s face scrunching up. As cute as the kid looks, he doesn’t like where this is going.

“What’s wrong, kid?”

“Bubu…”

The stench is faint, but he asks the question anyways, “what’s with that stench?”

Hotaru’s doe eyes blink not once but twice as he replies, “bu…”

“Did you just?!” Sukuna’s eyes widen with disbelief as he realizes the situation. He looks around for you once more and then furrows his eyebrows, “change your diapers?? Did you poop?!”

“Poop,” Hotaru confirms with a string of laughter. It’s cut short as he scrunches his face again, a sign that he’s still in the middle of shitting.

Sukuna immediately leans back, his back hitting the couch as he does so, “I don’t know how to change a diaper! Y/n!” Sukuna grumbles a few profanities as his hands reach under Hotaru’s armpits. He picks the kid up and carries him while walking back and forth, “y/n? Your nephew, uh… he pooped.” There’s still no response, so Sukuna sighs once more, “y/n? Where are you?”

His feet begin to move and the first place he looks for is obviously your bedroom. He peeks in and feels irritation rising, “fuck…” Sukuna walks over to you and peers at you, “you’re asleep? Seriously?” He lays Hotaru down on the bed and crosses his arms as he begins to talk to him, “should I wake her or not?” Obviously, he doesn’t expect Hotaru to respond, so he looks at you again, an unwanted smile stretching on his face, “she looks peaceful though and seemed tired before…” He’s groaning a lot today, but he manages to push your hair out of your face and throw the blanket over you, “fucking shit.”

“Come on, fat boy. Let’s get you changed out of that stupid ass diaper,” Sukuna picks Hotaru up and earns himself a smack from said fat boy. Apparently, he doesn’t like the nickname. Sukuna walks out of your room, “goodnight, y/n. Sweet dreams.”

Sukuna is back in the living room and digs through the duffel. He finds a small, soft rolled up mat and lays it out on the floor. He gently lays Hotaru down on it and pulls his pants off with a heavy frown. Sukuna really has no fucking clue on what to do so he whips out his phone, “let’s see… youtube.” He watches a short three-minute tutorial and chuckles to himself while his fingers tickle at Hotaru’s belly to keep him entertained.

“Oh, that simple huh?”

Sukuna puts his phone down and begins to copy what the parenting video had shown him. He made sure to be very diligent as he worked.

“Okay, all done!”

He gives Hotaru a small pat to his butt and puts his pants back on him, “feel better, brat?” Hotaru nods willingly and yawns in his arms, probably because Sukuna provides natural body heat so it might be making him sleepy. Sukuna stands up and tosses the diaper in the trash, “let’s feed you something warm and then let’s go take a nap with your unreliable auntie, ‘cause I’m beat too.”

He carried Hotaru all while warming up the dashi on the stove and microwaving the small onigiri his mom had brought in a tupperware. He set aside a bowl of dashi and rice for himself as well while he waited for Hotaru’s food to cool down. Feeding the kid was pretty easy, since he already knew how to feed himself. All Sukuna had to do was observe him and blow on the soup a bit more to ensure he wouldn’t burn his tongue. Once they finished, he put the dishes in the sink and laughed maniacally, “y/n can do the dishes, since she left me alone to watch you. What kind of aunt is she, leaving you unattended with a stranger like me.”

Sukuna closed the bedroom door behind him with his foot and placed Hotaru near you, “don’t mind me. I’m just squeezing us in.”

You stir in your sleep, “hmm? I’m sleepy.”

Your eyes are still closed as your head points in the direction he’s in. Sukuna is currently hovering above you as he tries to tuck Hotaru in, “I know. Scoot over so we can nap too. I finally got the kid to fall asleep.” This catches your attention, so one eye opens to look at him, “really? How?”

Sukuna stifles a laugh, “I hit him in the head as hard as I could.”

You jump up in bed with big eyes, “did you really?! Let me see–”

“Shh!”

His hand clamps over your mouth and he ushers with his head to your side, “I’m kidding, jeez. I fed him some of the food from earlier and he knocked out as soon as we were done,” Sukuna pokes at your ribs harshly, “so move over so he and I can both rest too.”

“Just place him between us so he won’t roll off the bed. Go to sleep on the other side,” you readjust yourself to go back to sleep, but Sukuna clicks his tongue, “nope, I want to sleep beside you. The brat can beat it.”

You sit up once more and roll your eyes, “Sukuna, quit being a brat. He’s still a baby, so he needs to sleep caged in, in case he rolls around in his sleep.”

There are practically lightbulbs flashing above Sukuna’s head as his eyes glow, “I have an idea.”

“That is?”

“Go get your parents’ pillows and lay it at the edge of the bed so that he can’t roll off.”

It’s crazy how serious he sounds about this. Your face falls flat, “you’re that adamant on sleeping beside me?”

“Yup.” He doesn’t even hesitate. In fact, he’s staring you dead in the eyes.

You sigh for the nth time, “okay fine, but you’re still gonna have to sleep all the way at the edge. Hotaru has to stay in the middle of the bed, kind of.”

Sukuna grins softly, “fine by me. I don’t move much anyway.”

It takes you less than five minutes to march up the stairs and back with the pillows. It takes you less than a minute to set up the pillow cage around Hotaru while Sukuna closes your bedroom door again. Once you think he’s cushioned in enough, you get back into bed and watch Sukuna as he comes over, “did you lock my door?”

“Sure did,” he yawns, “let’s sleep.”

Sukuna shoves his way in beside you and frowns when you don’t immediately snuggle up beside him, “hurry and come cuddle me.”

You laugh at his obviousness, “Sukuna, we are friends. There is no need to constantly cuddle. Besides, I gotta make sure Hotaru doesn’t roll off.”

“He’ll be fine!” Sukuna groans. The ball of his fist comes up to rub his eyes as he continues, “the brat is all warm and snug, see?”

Well, he does have a point. The kid is snoring so cutely and doesn’t seem bothered whatsoever. You turn your back towards Sukuna, “you can hold me, but I’ll be facing Hotaru, not you.”

Sukuna ponders for a few seconds before giving up, “okay, you win.”

His big arms snake over your waist and he doesn’t waste a second to yank you back and pull you against his chest as his nose tickles the back of your head. Once he’s comfortable enough, he lets out a soft sigh against your neck and begins to doze off.

“Goodnight,” you whisper, darkness beginning to take over.

“Sweet dreams.”

♡ ♡ ♡

You’re the first one to wake up. It’s completely pitch black and when you remember that you’re babysitting, you immediately panic and try to sit up. A strong arm keeps you planted in position though, “stay still.”

Sukuna’s sleepy voice resonates through the darkness and you’re suddenly aware of how close his lips are to the back of your neck. You don’t bother to respond, but your arms reach under your pillow for your phone. It’s nine almost ten and there are no missed calls or messages from either of your parents. You did get a few texts from Ayumi and there are responses that you don’t remember sending. You figured Sukuna sent them while you guys were asleep.

Ayumi: How’s Hotaru? I hope he’s not giving you a hard time. Sorry that we’ve been gone for so long. My hubby can’t ever say no to the boys, so we’re here longer than expected. 8:23pm

Y/n: He’s fine. I got him to fall asleep. Take as long as you need, I’ve got it covered. 8:24pm

Ayumi: Thank you so much, y/n. I owe you! 8:24pm

Ayumi: Y/n~ Again, I’m sorry! I’m trying to persuade them to come home soon. I know that you’ve been with Hotaru for the whole day. You must be annoyed. 9:12pm

Y/n: Not at all. He’s eaten at least three times. 9:20pm

Y/n: Attachment: 1 image 9:25pm

Y/n: Still sleeping. Don’t worry. 9:25pm

Ayumi: You’re the best! I’ll let you know when we’re on our way. 9:25pm

The picture that he sent was of Hotaru sleeping with the pillow fort around him. It’s pretty adorable, you guess. Okay, it is adorable. You’re concerned with how Sukuna managed to get into your phone but that’s a problem for another day. You’re shocked that he didn’t try to mess around with Kazuya and text him something weird, but maybe he’s more mature than you let on? You wonder what else he was doing while you were asleep, so you click on your gallery. There are two of Hotaru sleeping and then there are a bunch of photos taken from above of you and Hotaru sleeping. It’s obvious that the photos are taken with flash from someone reaching over behind you, but they’re still cute regardless. The last three are taken of you three. Sukuna’s arm does look a bit awkward in the photos, but he managed to take such cute photos. And if you look closely enough, the corners of his lips are lightly turnt up. It’s cute.

“I couldn’t sleep with your phone going off,” Sukuna admits, his lips brushing your neck as he speaks. All he gets from you is a short “sorry.”

He removes his hands from you and gets off the bed to go turn the light on and he comes back looking for comfort. You take another second to look at Hotaru and see that he’s pretty peaceful before shuffling in the bed to face Sukuna. His chin is propped up on his fist as he stares down at you patiently.

“Sukuna.”

“Hmm? What do you need?”

A million things are running through your head, but Kaede is the main one. Earlier he said that he was already hanging out with her. Does he do this with her too? Is he just this close with anybody he meets? You inch a little closer to him, “I wanted to ask you a question.”

His eyes squinted a little, “you don’t need to tell me that.” Sukuna’s hand raises and he pushes your hair back to get it out of your tired face, “just say it.”

Your eyes flutter at the motion, “okay…”

“So what’s the question?”

Sukuna’s tone is lighthearted and playful, something he usually reserves. He only sounds like this when he’s really having a good time. You honestly have no idea why he would feel that way right now, but it means he’s in a good mood, so you shake off your nerves, “you know how you always come to my house at night and sleep with me?”

“Mhmm,” he hums, his tone still light and airy.

“Do you also hang out with Kaede like that?” You don’t mean to sound territorial over him, but it comes out just that way. You think you sound crazy, and you think Sukuna might think you’re crazy now. However, Sukuna just cocks his head as his eyes roll up to the corner to think, “maybe once. Why?”

Your heart feels heavy at his honesty. What the fuck is maybe once? Is it yes or no, dumbass. You clear your throat, “just asking. Do you sleep there too?”

“No,” this time Sukuna’s tone drops into that of something serious. His eyebrows pull down as he tries to read your eyes, “why?”

“Again, I’m just asking.”

“Why do you look like that then?” Sukuna’s free hand comes up to grip your chin as he observes your expression. Is he tripping or did he see a spark of jealousy in your eyes? Is he crazy or do you sound jealous? His heart skips a beat at the thought that you might be, but then again, you’re a bitch and you’re so confusing at times. He doesn’t want to overthink anything so minor; but if he has to be honest, you seem to be displaying weird looks at times, whether it be at Kaede or him. Like, if he’s too invested in talking to Kaede while you all hang out or something, you get a little weird. Okay, maybe not weird, but you do get distant, which makes him distant, since he doesn’t know how to approach you when you get like that. Even if he tried, you’d just brush it off and smile that fake little smile. Don’t get him started on how you’ll act all weird around him and then suddenly rub Kazuha in his face. You guys aren’t dating, you aren’t sure if you even like him, yet you won’t throw the guy away and friendzone him. What exactly are you doing? Then you come up to him and ask him to take you out partying, like??? He thought you were talking to Kazuha, why do you suddenly want to go out partying? Are you going through a partying phase? Rebellious phase? He doesn’t fucking know. You’re weird at times.

“Like what?” you ask that in such an oblivious tone that it makes him feel fucking stupid.

His eyes flick between yours once more before he releases your chin and backs up from you, “... never mind. It’s nothing.”

Sukuna gets up from the bed again and begins to put his shoes on, “your folks might come back soon, so I’ll get going before I cause trouble.”

You nod reluctantly and walk him towards the gate in the front, “are you going to walk all the way home?”

He pulls his phone out and sends a quick text before shaking his head and smiling, “nah. I’m gonna go to a convenience store nearby and have my chauffeur pick me up.”

Sukuna waits for you to unlock the gate and then ruffles your already messy hair as he walks out, “send me those photos of us with Hotaru.”

“You want them?”

The surprise in your voice is quite evident since it’s something you never thought Sukuna would want. The pictures are already something that you never thought Sukuna would take, yet here he is, doing just that. He spins around and shoots you a boyish smile, “yeah, I do.”

You get a text from Ayumi a little bit after and open the door to let her in. You were expecting her, but instead it was her husband, Asa. You greet him with a smile, “oh, long time no see!” He returns the expression and gives you a friendly hug, “I must’ve surprised you. Ayumi was going to come in, but she’s been running around with us all day. I felt bad, so I told her to relax.”

He steps inside respectfully and switches his outside shoes to house slippers as he follows you to the living room. You’re babbling about how it was all okay while you help him pack up the duffel. Asa laughs wholeheartedly, “it seems like you played with him a whole lot! The living room is littered with all the toys we packed him. Looks like an accident took place.”

“Right…” you laugh nervously. It did happen! Sukuna literally played out a car crash scene with lots of injuries. Asa zips up the duffle with a content smile, “thank you so much for taking such good care of Hotaru, y/n-san. We deeply appreciate your efforts.” He’s already halfway to doing a formal bow when you interrupt and laugh, “it’s fine, Asa-san! We are family, this shouldn’t even be something to thank me for. I’m happy as long as I was able to help. I hope you guys had a blast. I know that Hotaru is still too young to travel like that, so it was no problem at all.”

Frankly, you can’t take all the credit… since it was mainly Sukuna who watched and played with Hotaru. Asa waits outside your bedroom door as you go get Hotaru. You pick him up gently and bring him over to his dad, “we had fun here too, so don’t feel too bad. Have a safe trip back home.”

“Once again, thank you, y/n-san.”

You bid him farewell and wave eagerly at Ayumi through the car window. She returns the gesture, and you wait for their car to drive off before you close and lock the gates again. After hours of not receiving an update from your parents, your mom finally reached out and told you that they’d be spending the night at a luxurious hotel. Gross. You send her back a funny, yet snarky response about being responsible and all she sends back are eyeball emojis. You shower off the day and get ready for another round of sleep, but as you’re lying in bed, your phone buzzes.

Sukuna ^.^: Um hello? The photos. 11:43pm

Halfie: Attachment: 3 images. 11:45pm

Taglist open! @lucyrocks86 @mykyoon​ @hxlalokidottir @wo-ming-bai @adoraspace​ @yourusernames​

[cer-rata]

Fic WIP "Pretending to Breathe"

If he was going to be totally honest, Chris hadn’t been entirely sure he’d see the sky again. He’d tried not to dwell on it while he was in the zone, but now that he could see clouds again, he realized how much they really meant to him. Grass was nice, too. Nice to lay on, nice to run his fingers through. Just…nice.

He closed his eyes and focused on blocking out any sounds from outside of the park. He was out of practice, but was getting the hang of it again. It took a moment, but he managed to isolate just the stuff that was immediately relevant to him: The sparrows that were bouncing nearby, Brian’s (B+ was starting to lean into his Earth name) breathing, the sound of roots slowly pressing into the soil--stuff like that.

…Wait.

He turned to look at his friend who was laying in the grass next to him. He was pretending to be human, so he was brown instead of turquoise, his…wires? Tendrils…? Whatever the glowy cables on his head were called were disguised to look like dreadlocks. It was pretty convincing. Cute too that he made himself resemble Star Sapphire so obviously.

“...Brian, why are you breathing?”

“What.”

“You don’t normally breathe.”

“But I can! I have lungs! I always have lungs!”

“But you never use them.”

He sighed. “...Humans can subconsciously tell if I’m not breathing, so if my chest isn’t rising they get slightly unnerved and can’t figure out why. So when I’m pretending I try to make sure I’m breathing.”

Chris hummed. “Gotcha. Well. Uh. You’re good at it.”

“...Breathing?”

“Yep!”

“You’re dumb.”

“Everyone is dumb to you.”

“No, no I think it’s just you.”

Chris shoved him and he laughed. “Alright, I got a question for you, my little nerdy friend.”

“I’m only shorter than you because I haven’t felt like updating my form yet--”

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“God.”

Chris sat with that in horror for a moment before slowly turning his head to look at Brian.

Brian was already looking at him with a big dumb smile on his face. He giggled when they made eye contact and he saw the concern in Chris’ expression. “You’re so easy.”

Chris squinted at him and sat up. “You’re annoying.”

“I am. Funny, though.”

“Is that what you want to be? A comedian?”

“I dunno. I don’t have a set lifespan, so I don’t really see the need to decide on a single course of action. I have…quite a bit of time to do many things. I could just hang out with you for the rest of your life and I wouldn’t have made a dent in the eternity I’ll have if I don’t get myself blown up. Even then you’d have to blow me up really thoroughly.” He winced. “...If my brother was here he’d have made a joke out of that phrasing.”

“What, about wanting to be blown real thoroughly?”

Brian sighed. “I shouldn’t have prompted you…”

Chris snorted. “You better say something real nice at my funeral.”

“‘Christopher Kent was my best friend. A lot of messed up stuff happened to him. But the greatest injustice in his life was that he was not born the blond that his personality and cognition indicated he should have been.’”

Chris gave him a look and that was enough to get him laughing again. He knew that B wasn’t Brainiac, he believed it too. But it was still striking to think that Brainiac had made such a giggly little kid. Even by accident. He shook his head. 

“Maybe you’re not invited.”

“Like you could stop me.”

“Ghosts are totally a thing.”

“I know how to trap them.”

“You’re lying.”

“Ghostbusters wasn’t as far off as one would assume. Anyway,” Brian sat up. “What about you, Mr. Fixed Lifespan, what do you want to be when you grow up? ‘Superman’ is not a valid answer.”

Chris snorted. “You have any idea how far down the list I am?”

“I do, yes. Heck, I think I'm even ranked higher--ah! Nope!” Brian caught Chris’ hand before he could get captured by it.

Chris strained to get past him, but Brian’s arm didn’t budge. “...Seriously, why are you so strong? Gah!” Brian yanked Chris over to him, and Chris fell on top of him in a heap. 

Brian hugged him close.  “My question is still unanswered. Answering questions is my whole thing, so you’re kind of cramping my style, blondie.”

Chris struggled a little bit, but not seriously. He groaned and went dramatically limp. “...I dunno, buddy. I never really got a chance to think about it before. Someone always had an idea of what I should do. I didn’t even really have time for hobbies before everything got bad. Well. Worse I guess, cause it didn’t start great either.”

Brian loosened his grip, and Chris adjusted to lay a little more comfortably. “Ah. Well…in that case…maybe when I start actually setting up my corps you could be…one of my first lanterns? Maybe? If you want, I mean. ‘Turquoise Lantern’ is a little bit of a mouthful admittedly, but I’m sure I can think of something better.” He cleared his throat nervously after he finished. 

Chris swallowed thickly. “Oh. Gee…you…you mean that?”

“Of course. You ask dumb questions all the time, you’re just what the corps would need.”

“Hey--”

“Now, I do plan it to be more of a research and education organization, so you may have to learn how to read but--” 

Chris slipped his hand under Brian’s shirt and started tickling him. Chris always thought it was hilarious how Brian would pretend to try and escape when the reality was that he actively chose to let himself feel the sensation for some reason. “You were really asking for this.” He pointed out as he scratched at the spot where Brian’s belly button would have been if he had one. He knew from experience that for whatever reason that was a bad spot, and Brian’s shrieks and squeals didn’t disappoint.

“I’m soooorry!’ He managed to squeak out.

“You can just ask, you know.”

“Wh-ha-hat?”

“If you want to wrestle or have me tickle you, you can just say that, you don’t have to try to annoy me first.”

“But--aha, Chris! C-Conrad and Damian bother each other for attention all the time!”

“Yeah, but they’re dating and both super crazy, are you calling me super crazy?”

Brian didn’t manage to get a response out because he was laughing so hard. He released Chris from his grip though, and Chris mercifully let him go in return. Brian took a minute to calm down.

“You’re mean,” He giggled. 

“Had fun?”

Brian nodded. “Yeah. I do kinda like it when you and Conrad play with me like that. It makes me feel like his actual little brother and like you actually like me.”

Chris’ eyes widened. “Wh--Buddy, I do actually--”

“I’m joking again.”

Chris squinted. “What did I just say about not having to annoy me to get me to tickle you?”

Brian squeaked and laughed and curled up into a ball. “Nooo! I was just being normal annoying that time!”

Chris snorted before laying back down in the grass next to him. “...I think I’d look good in turquoise.”

Brian uncurled and turned to look at him. “...Y-yeah, actually. I do too.” They made eye contact for a little too long, and Brian winced before awkwardly breaking it. 

Chris raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Nothing!”

[trashyswitch]

Go Home, Will!

William is refusing to go home from work, due to being slammed with so much paperwork. But Henry is having none of it. So he pulls an inconvenient prank on his buddy in an attempt to get him away from the work desk. And it works! Well...kinda.

I was in a rare mood to write some fluffy Afton & Emily content. And this is what I came up with! I hope you enjoy!

William and Henry’s friendship was unlike any friendships between two males would really look like. It was more fun and silly, buddy-buddy if you will. They were opposites in a lot of ways, but they always found that silly, childish middle ground. 

And there was this one time when their childishness was on full display: 

One day, William had been working overtime…and no matter how many pre-punch out warnings Henry had gave him, the man just refused to pack up to go home. William had been sitting at his desk, working on paperwork with his black telephone right beside him. And Henry had already packed up his stuff, and was about to leave. He looked at William. “You realize it’s 10 after 5, right?” Henry asked. 

William looked at his watch, before sighing as he stared at his stack of papers. “I can’t go yet. I have to finish this.” William told him. 

“Come on! It’s quitting time. Don’t you wanna go home and see your kids?” Henry asked, poking his shoulder. “I do. But I also need to get a few more of these pages done before I go home. I’m slammed. So unless you wanna help me get these done on time, then leave me be.” He told him. 

Henry chuckled and pulled on something. “Good luck then.” He said before walking out of the room. 

William looked over at the telephone, expecting a phone call to get one more crucial detail so he could finish this top sheet. But looking at the telephone, something caught the corner of his eye:  something was missing. 

“What-” William looked towards the outlet. Where’s the cord? William looked towards the side of the telephone and verbally cursed. “Henry, have you seen the phone cord?” William asked, turning to look for him. “No! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Henry replied casually. “The-the phone cord for the-” William looked at Henry and towards his hand.

“Oh! I’m sorry…” Henry waved the black thing in his hand. “Do you mean this little cord?” Henry asked with a smirk. 

“I-Henry…” William started to walk up to Henry, but watched as Henry stepped back at the same time with a growing smirk on his face. William’s face was slowly growing less and less amused. “Henry…” He muttered. 

“Whaaat?” Henry replied. 

“Give it to me, now.” William ordered, holding out his hand. 

“And risk you staying till 2am like last time?” Henry added. “Nah.” 

William made a fist and started to run up to him. “GIVE IT!” William yelled, jumping to tackle him down. 

But Henry dodged his tackle and ran a few steps away, laughing his head off at William’s faceplant against the floor, before taking off running down the hall. “COME AND GET IT, LOSER!” Henry shouted. 

William slapped the ground before getting up, and sprinting down the hall after him. “HENRY, THIS IS RIDICULOUS.” 

“I THINK YOUR MISSUS WOULD DISAGREE.” Henry teased over his shoulder. 

Henry sprinted into the security office and out the exit to the hallway on the other side. Then, he sprinted down that hallway back to the front. 

“HENRY I SWEAR TO GOD!” William was slowly catching up to Henry, and trying to think of how to trap him so he could get the cord back. 

“WE CAN RUN LAPS ALL DAY!” Henry yelled back. “AND YOU STILL WON’T GET THIS CORD BACK.” 

William eventually managed to trap him against a corner. Smirking now, William placed both his hands and feet against either side of the wall, to stop him from getting out. “You’re stuck now, cord thief.” William warned. 

“Am I, now?” Henry smirked as he put the cord around his neck like a scarf before starting to skitter his fingers on William’s armpits. 

William widened his eyes in horror. “aAAAH-” He yelled before squeezing them shut. “OHNO-” William blurted out, hissing as he brought his arms against his sides to cover up his armpits. 

“How long can Willy the crybaby handle being tickled?” Henry asked confidently. 

“H-HENRYHYHY-” William’s wobbly smile grew wider as he quickly lost control of himself. “DAHAHA! DAMMIHIHIHIT!” William laughed, finally dropping to his knees. “WAHAIT- *snort* HEHEHEHENRYYYY!” William laughed, even letting out a snort in between. 

Henry stopped tickling and quickly tried to escape. “aHA! SEE YA- AAH!” Henry yelped as he fell to the ground. 

“Hehehehe…” William chuckled lowly, holding Henry’s foot. Henry’s choice to escape would end up being a HUGE mistake. “I’ve got you now, little bastard.” William said with a devilish smirk on his face, tightening his grip on Henry’s ankle.

“W-William! Wait-” Henry reacted as he tried to kick William’s hand off his ankle with his other foot. “Let’s talk about this!” But William caught the bottom of the other shoe with his other hand. Instinctively, Henry pulled on his foot. “WAIT! LET GO!” Henry ordered, pulling and shaking his leg to get his foot out. 

But this would only end up wiggling his foot free of his shoe. His shoe would pop right off, leaving Henry’s socked foot out in the open. Henry froze in place for those few seconds. “......Uh oh…” 

William dropped the shoe and grabbed the socked foot all in one quick swoop. “Come here, you!” William pulled his foot underneath Will’s armpit and trapped the ankle in his armpit almost like a chokehold. Then, he started skittering his fingers on Henry’s vulnerable arch. 

“eeEEEHEHEHEHAHAhahahaha! WAHAHAhahahahait nohoHOHOHOhoho!” Henry yelled. “Lehehet me gohohohohoho!” He begged.  “Give me the goddamn phone cord then, smart aleck.” William ordered. 

“NOHOHO! NOHOT ON MYHY LIHIHIFE!” Henry yelled back. 

“Then suffer under the hands of the dreaded tickle monster, Henry.” William replied. “You wanted to play? You wanted me to stop working? Con-fucking-gratulations. You did just that.” William declared with a sarcastic, witty tone. 

“WOHOHORTH IHIHIT!” Henry yelled back. 

“Really? You want these tickles right now?” William asked. 

“IHIHI DIHIHIDN’T SAHAHAY THAHAT!” Henry yelled back. 

“You didn’t? Then enlighten me, oh smart one: What did you mean?” William asked as he moved his fingers down to his heel.

“IHIHI MEHEHEANT IHIhihit wahahas wohohohorth gehehetting you to stohohop wohohorking!” Henry replied, growing more giggly than before. 

“Well, you did succeed at that. But you still didn’t answer my other question: Do you want these tickles?” William asked, moving his fingers back to the arch again. 

“WhahahahAHAHAHAT?!” Henry reacted, squealing as the tickling doubled for him. 

“You heard me.” William replied. “Did you want to be tickled?” William asked as he moved his fingers up to the top sole of his foot. 

“WHOHOHO TOHOHOLD YOHOHOU THAHAT?!” Henry asked. 

William couldn’t help the laugh that left his mouth. “STILL not answering my goddamn question!” He reacted with a smile on his face. “Do you wanna be tickled?! Or do you want me to stop? It’s an easy question!” William asked him once again. 

“YEHEHEHESS!” Henry replied. 

“Oh my fucking- YES TO WHAT?!” William asked, growing slightly infuriated. 

“YEHEHEHES! JUHUHUHUST YEHEHES!” Henry yelled back. 

“You know what-” William stopped tickling and just dropped his foot to the ground. 

“Hehehehe- ohohowww!” Henry whined, grabbing his own foot and rubbing the tickles and the newfound pain away. “Yohohou suhuhuck.” Henry complained. 

William smirked and grabbed the telephone cord from around his neck. “Says the pillock.” William teased. 

Henry dropped his jaw. “I am NOT a pillock!” Henry reacted. 

“Oh, but you really are.” William replied. “Either that, or a knob.” William added. 

Henry narrowed his eyes at his mate and cracked his knuckles.

“Probably both, actually.” William added, pointing to Henry without looking at him. 

Suddenly, William felt his body get knocked down by Henry’s weight alone. “OW-” William looked behind him and saw the phone cord had fallen out of his hand, and onto the floor a good 10 feet away. “Come on-” He reached his arms out to try and reach the cord. “aaAAAH! HENRY!” William yelled as he brought his hands back against his chest and away from the cord. 

“What?!” Henry reacted, lifting up his one arm. “You seriously thought tickling me was NOT going to result in revenge?!” Henry asked. 

“I knew it would, but- eeEEP!” William clenched his teeth as he felt Henry’s fingers sneak even further into his bloody armpits. “Ididn’tknowitwouldhappensoQUICKLY!” William yelled, tugging on his arm. “LET ME GO!” William ordered. 

“But letting you go would mean I would have to watch you go back to the office and work till 2am again! And pretty much everyone knows that’s not healthy.” Henry told him as he kept tickling his vulnerable armpit.

“C-COHOHOME OHOHON! THIHIHIS IS UHUHUNFAHAHAHAHAIR!” William complained. 

“Do you realize how much of a baby you’re being right now?” Henry asked him. “Like, Charlie and Elizabeth would be able to handle this better than you. And you’re a grown man!” He reminded him. 

William grunted and tried to tickle him back. But because one of his arms was stuck in Henry’s grip, he wasn’t very successful. He managed to get a couple tickles in (which was better than nothing), but wasn’t really able to do much else due to being distracted by the ticklish feelings in his armpit. 

“Yohohou mahanaged to get me a bit there, so I give you credit where it’s due.” Henry reacted. 

William finally threw his head back and laughed hysterically as he went completely limp. “OHOHOKAHAHAHAY, YOHOHOU WIHIHIN!” William told him. He had just given up fighting at that point, due to growing really tired already from the mix of fighting and laughing. 

Henry raised an eyebrow. “Finally done your little fit?” he teased, noticing William’s change in his reactions. So, he decided to switch places. “Looks like a new tickle spot is in order.” Henry declared. 

William shook his head rather quickly for a man who had given up, and looked at Henry with subtle puppy eyes. “Plehehease. Ihihi neheed a breheheheak.” William told him. 

Henry smiled a bit as he gently tickled the side of his neck. “A break, huh?”

William snorted and curled his neck to try and stop the fingers, but to no avail. “Cohohome ohohohon, mahan! Ihihit’s uhuhunfahahair!” William complained. 

“Gosh, your wife would laugh if she knew what we were doing.” Henry reacted, stopping his fingers. 

William cleared his throat and huffed. “Ihi’m supposed to be getting a phone call.” William told him. 

“From who?” Henry asked, smirking as he started tickling his neck again.

“eeEEK! F-FROHohom thihihis Mihike guhuhuhuy.” William replied. “Thehe nehehew sehecurity guahahard.” William added. 

“Eeeh, that man can wait till morning.” Henry replied as he stopped his fingers. “You’ve got a family to go home to.”

William removed the co-owner’s hand from his neck and looked up at Henry. “Ihi guess…” William mumbled back. 

Henry raised an eyebrow at his reaction and smirked. “Don’t be talking shit about your family, Will.” Henry warned. 

“Ohor what?” He asked, sounding almost giddy or drunk. 

“Or I’ll tickle you even more.” Henry replied with confidence just dripping from his mouth. 

William narrowed his eyes for a moment before pushing Henry to the ground and staring at the tickler who was now below him. “You think you can tickle me and not get tickled back?” William asked. 

Henry smirked and pushed William back down to the ground, bringing himself on top in the process. “Yes, I do believe I can.” Henry replied as he squeezed Will’s sides. 

William squeaked and tried his best to grab his hands. “NO! Noho! Handsoffyoubig-” William widened his eyes and froze. 

Henry smirked at this. “What? Too scared to get me back now?” Henry asked all confidently. “Did I finally scare you into going home?” Henry asked next. 

William was staring at something behind him, shocked and horrified. 

“...What? Is someone behind-” Henry widened his eyes and quickly got off William the moment he saw someone there. “MICHAEL! Heeey!” Henry reacted. 

Michael raised an eyebrow at Henry. “...Hey…” He muttered before narrowing his eyes at his father. “Why are you still here?” Michael asked. 

“I’m…about to ask you almost the same thing.” William replied, getting up onto his feet. “It’s been 35 minutes, Dad. Mom wanted me to drive over to see what you were up to.” Michael told him. “And frankly, I’m glad I was the one who came. Cause I don’t think mom would be so patient with your actions right now.” Michael reacted. 

“Come on, Michael. It was just a bit of tickling.” Henry told him. 

“Of course. And there is just a family waiting for the both of you to head home.” Michael added. 

William got up and started to walk back up to the office with Michael. Henry turned around and looked at the telephone wire. Maybe this whole thing was a stupid idea after all…All this tomfoolery…just for 35 minutes and no more work done. Henry headed into the office and plugged the telephone wire back in, before grabbing his coat and bag off the floor. And the last thing he heard from the two of them, was this little bit of banter: 

“Also, can you drive? I forgot my wallet again.” 

“...And you drove over here without it?” 

“......Yeah.” 

*sigh* “Fine.” 

[polypomefiore]

Epel’s second escape attempt and near death experience (vampire slave au idea)

When Vil and Rook go out for business one snowy day, Epel, despite the torturous punishment he received after his first failed escape attempt, takes the newly given opportunity and sneaks past the servants into the garden. He carefully climbs up a large bare tree close to the stone wall and manages to get atop of it, but gets his nightgown snagged on some branches. Yet he pays no mind to that and proceeds to scale down the wall using a vine growing on the wall. As soon as his bare feet touched the snow covered ground, he didn't hesitate or stop to think, he just booked it without a second thought. His instincts, desperation, and adrenaline doing the thinking for him as he runs through the dense woods, all the while ignoring the pain of thorns and sharp branches poking into his bare feet, the bloody footprints he leaves behind in the snow, or his arms, legs, and nightgown getting caught on sharp branches that he pushes through in his desperate search for civilization. He just needed to find a village, a town, a city, or an inn. Anyplace where he can find help and where there wouldn’t be any vampires. 

As he approaches a shallow stream, he doesn’t think to look for a way to cross and just walks right into it, soaking himself in icy cold water with his torn nightgown clinging to his body. He ignores the painful chill, his heart pounding louder in his ears than the howling wind as it vigorously pumps boiling blood and adrenaline through his veins. After shambling through the river, he continues running without stopping to catch his breath for even a single second. He didn’t know how long he continued to run, but he felt like the forest had no end in sight, but he just couldn’t make himself stop. Not even when he began to feel lightheaded from fatigue and slight blood loss which made his vision blurry, until the helm of his nightgown got caught on a branch, which ripped through it and caused Epel to stumble and fall down a hill. As he tumbles, he gets even more deeply cut everywhere across his body until he rolls into a tree at the base of the hill, knocking the remaining air out of his burning lungs and snow piling onto him from the branches above. He tried to push himself back up, but his head was spinning so violently he couldn’t see straight and finally collapsed, laying on his side beneath the tree, covered in blood, ice, snow, and dirt. 

He lost track of how long he laid there, his breathing becoming more and more difficult as dark spots danced across his vision. As he slipped into darkness, he felt a single tiny teardrop run down his cheek and land in the snow. Despair dug deeper into his skin than the freezing cold. He had been so close, he had finally managed to escape from that hellish mansion, he practically almost tasted his freedom on the tip of his tongue like a sweet drop of honey. Yet here he was, covered in snow and about to become a frozen feast for the crows. 

Before the last traces of his consciousness faded into nothingness, Epel caught a blurry glimpse of two pairs of familiar black boots with gold laces and feeling something wrap around him as he was lifted gently up from the ground. 

When he reopened his tired eyes, the first thing he noticed was that something warm and soft was wrapped around him in a cocoon and the scent of freshly brewed hot chocolate wafted through the air. As he lifted his head up, his vision slowly clearing, he came face to face with a fire burning warm and bright within the intricate carved marble fireplace a few feet away from him. Then from behind, he heard a soft whisper in his ear, “Ah, dieu merci, you’re finally awake little apple blossom. You made us very worried. We almost thought you wouldn’t make it.” 

Turning his head, Epel was met by a pair of emerald green eyes with slit pupils. To his rising horror, he realized that he was in the arms of Rook, who sat on a cushioned loveseat while he held Epel in his lap and close to his chest with one arm and a teacup of hot choco in the other, which he brought closer to the omega boy’s lips, softly telling him to drink up. Unable to resist the temptation of the sweet scent, Epel did just that. He felt the warmth slide down his throat as it wrapped him up in a warm, comforting sensation. Once he finished, he realized Vil was sitting cross legged beside them with an unreadable expression. A shiver ran through his body and he asked in a fatigued, shaky whisper if he was going to be punished again. To his surprise, Vil told him no, explaining that Epel had gone through enough today and needed to rest. He had nearly caught hypothermia and lost a lot of blood. It had practically taken both vampire lords several hours to both warm up Epel’s body and heal his wounds with several bottles of elixirs and healing spells. 

With a sigh (from what Epel couldn’t tell was from exhaustion, exasperation, frustration, or something else), Vil got up from the loveseat and picked up the tea tray from the nearby table. He gave Epel another unreadable expression as he firmly told him to not push himself further until he was stable then told Rook that he was going to get a refill of hot choco and to not let Epel out of his sight. Rook gave a serious nod. When the two were alone, Rook gently but sternly told Epel to go back to sleep as he was in desperate need of it. Confused yet still groggy, Epel couldn’t help but let himself fall back into unconsciousness as he felt Rook’s arms wrap around his blanketed body, the soft crack sounds of embers further lulling him asleep.

anon u NEED to write a fic. this is so well written and interesting u gotta PLS

i’m curious tho..why did rook and vil want a human omega? as a pet? a blood blank? to breed? all three?

also is he going to be punished after he’s recovered? poor epel..he gets all pampered while he’s recovering, and he hopes they won’t punish him bc he almost died, but disobedient pets need to be trained. no more hot choco for u

[s-creations]

The King Arrives - Epilogue

(A few days after ‘Plant Care’ from ‘Hues’ Collection)

Everything felt off.

Everyone was on edge.

Something was wrong.

They don’t have long to fix it.

Fandom: Super Mario & Related Fandoms Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Relationships: Luigi & Mario & Wario (Nintendo) Warnings/Additional Tags: Violence, there is cursing!, fighting ghosts, separation, illusions, here we go!, this is gonna get crazy!

AN's note at the end of the chapter, please read!

Mario was pulled from his deep sleep feeling someone shift next to him. Letting out a groan, attempting to reach up to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Only to find neither arm could move. Another groan escaping him, Mario opened his eyes slowly to find a deep red canopy draped above him.

Wait…canopy?

What…What happened? Where was he?

He tried to move once more, feeling further resistance on both sides. To his right was Peach, fast asleep in a large arm chair. Holding onto Mario’s hand between her own. Brows furrowed as she tightened her grip. Wario sleeping in his own chair nearby.

With half the mystery solved as to why he couldn’t move, Mario turned to his left. Luigi was clinging onto him. Cheek squished against Mario’s shoulder. Arms wrapped tightly around the older brother, snoring softly, the calmest Mario had seen his brother in awhile.

None of this answered his numerous questions.

“Luigi… Hey, Lu…” Mario carefully nudged his shoulder to wake his brother. Who slowly but surely woke up.

“Mmm…M-Mario?” Luigi’s voiced weakly, pulling away to rub his eyes. Only to freeze as realization dawned on him as to who he was talking to. 

Mario was a little unprepared to have arms wrapped around him once more. Pulled out of Peach’s hold. Laughing weakly as he hugged Luigi back. “H-Hey Lu.”

“Mario, are you okay?” Luigi pulled away to check his brother over.

“I’m fine! I’m fine. Are you okay? You’re looking a little frantic, what has you ruffled up?” Mario asked. Something white flashing on Luigi, pulling the hero’s attention to the dressing on his brother’s arm and stomach. “What happened? Why are we in the guest room? …Is that a ghost dog?”

Luigi frowned as the list of questions went on. “Uh, yeah, you know Pulterpup. Well, I mean, not really that well, but… Mario, what do you remember from yesterday?”

“What are you talking about?” Mario replied. Laughing softly as Polterpup happily crawled onto his lap. The ghost dog happily takes the pets offered to him by the older brother.

“I’m serious, what do you remember?”

“Um, we came to visit Peach…and I’m assuming we just stayed the night. You still haven’t explained what happened to you. Did we train? …Luigi?” Mario faulted when Luigi grabbed his hands. Worry growing seeing how broken his younger brother looked. “Weegee?”

“You don’t remember.”

“...No, I guess not.”

Luigi leaned back in the bed, eyes down turned as he became lost in his thoughts. Before Mario could pull him back, Luigi let out a deep sigh before looking up to his brother. 

And he talked. 

About everything. 

About how everyone was freaking out, so fearful, apparently because of ghosts that had invaded the castle. How they’d all met Professor E. Gadd and Polterpup, being informed of the horrors that were surrounding them. How they’d been separated. About the Poltergust, Luigi catching his first ghost and Boo.

About King Boo, who he was and where he’d come from. What he’d done, what his plan was. Of Luigi working out a plan and was shocked that he actually succeeded. Of where the large Boo came from.

“And when I got back to the Great Hall, Wario arrived with you and…we were brought here. And…yeah…” Luigi finished weakly, waving his hand. Unsure of what else he could say. Mario looked absolutely stunned at everything just thrown at him. “Mario? …Are you okay?”

The older brother let out a slow sigh before pulling Luigi into a tight hug. The younger brother panicked, feeling Mario shake. “Mario-”

“I-I don’t… I don’t have solid memories… It feels like a living nightmare. Just small moments of… I don’t even know how to describe it… I just remember feeling terrified…” The hero let out a shaky breath. 

“M-Mario…” Luigi frowned softly as his brother pulled away. Giving a weak smile as Mario gently cupped his cheeks.

“I may not remember any of it… But I am absolutely proud of you…” 

The younger brother let out a weak laugh. “I just wish I could have gotten you back faster. I wish I hadn’t let you go…”

“None of that. Let’s just…” Mario frowned, pulling his brother back into a tight hug. “Thank you for telling me what happened… But I think I’m still a little out of it right now to focus on this…” 

“Yeah… That’s fair…”

They didn’t move. At least not right away.

When they did, it was Mario who took the lead. Not to lay down, even though his body desperately begged for sleep. Instead, pressing their forehead together while cupping Luigi’s cheeks. The younger brother gripping onto Mario’s shoulders. 

I’m so proud of you.

I’m sorry.

You have nothing to apologize for.

I lost you.

But you got me back.

I shouldn’t have let you go to begin with.

It’s not your fault. 

I was so scared.

You were incredibly brave.

I need you to talk to me.

Don’t hide.

We’ll be okay.

This is too much.

Don’t pull away.

We’ll be okay.

We need help.

It’s becoming too much.

What do we do?

Both jumped when the bed dipped down, something warm warped around them. Looking over to find a weary Wario. Who was giving them a quiet ‘Are you okay?’ To which the twins returned with a weak smile and collapsed against the larger form. 

We’ll be okay.

_____________________________

Luigi grunted as he dropped the metal case into the vehicle. Wiping his brow before turning to E. Gadd. “Is that all of it?”

“It appears to be.” 

“We can’t thank you enough.” Peach said with a smile.

“Think nothing of it my dear. More than happy to help. I’ll keep an eye on everything and report back with what I learn.”

Luigi cleared his throat. “King Boo…are you sure he’s…”

“While my scans do show ‘life’ in the painting, King Boo is not consciously aware of what’s happening around him. Think of it as him merely being asleep, and will remain that way. Nothing to worry about.”

“It would be better if he wasn’t here, period.” Wario commented.

“To true!” E. Gadd agreed, “But we’ll deal with what we have for the moment. Now, before I go.”

Luigi was surprised as the newly fixed Poltergust was dropped in his arms. “W-What?”

“I figured a working souvenir on your adventure would be suitable.” 

“B-But don’t you need it?”

E. Gadd waved his hand. “I’m too old to be swinging something like that around. It’s built for youngsters like you. Besides, my brain’s already working on a new design, don’t fret. And one more thing…where did I put that- Oh!”

Luigi yelped and jumped back slightly as a large bag of golden bones was dropped at his feet. Almost crushing one of them.“What are you-”

“Now, they technically don’t eat, but Polterpup does deserve a treat from time to time. They like to explore, so don’t mind if they disappear from time to time. They’ll be able to find their way back home. Oh, and-”

“E. Gadd, what are you talking about?”

The professor gave a small sigh and smiled. “Well, I thought it was obvious. Polterpup wants to stay with you.”

Startled, Luigi looked down to the spectral pup. Who barked back happily. “I- No, I mean, y-you’ll be by yourself.”

“When you’ve been in my work for as long as I have, you learn you’re never really alone. Plus, this is Polterpup’s request, not mine. But I do trust you to look after them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” E. Gadd said with a nod, Polterpup barking in agreement. 

Luigi felt his heart lift in joy. “I’ll take good care of them.”

“I know you will.” The professor reached out to grip Luigi’s shoulder, giving it a gentle shake. “You did a wonderful job sonny. We’ll make a ghost hunter out of you yet… Now! Don’t be a stranger! You have my number, call me at any time. Trust me. I’ll be awake.”

Hopping into the front, E. Gadd gave one final wave before taking off. All waving and watching as the vehicle disappeared over the horizon.

Luigi winced as Mario lightly elbowed his side. “What?” 

“So…you a certified ghost hunter now?” Mario smirked. 

“No, nope, absolutely not. I’m putting this on a shelf. I’ll look over at it from time to time and think ‘Huh, that was a terrifying ordeal,’ and move on.”

“I don’t know,” Wario smirked, “You have a new useful skill and a good hunting dog now.”

“Never again.” Luigi whispered.

“Um,” a Toad suddenly spoke up, “So…was anyone else going to say it?”

“Say what?” Peach asked.

“...That E. Gadd is human?”

.

.

.

“WHAT?”

Heavy red doors parted to allow a green skin toned knight wearing silver armor to enter the throne room. Nobles of varying shades of green that lined the hall fell quiet as their eyes followed the new arrival. Said knight approaching the grand throne on the opposite end. Providing a low bow before verbally addressing.

“Queen Bean, I’ve arrived with a report that I believe will interest you greatly.”

Said queen, an imposing being with vivid green skin and tight coiled purple hair, wearing a gown of red, leaned forward upon her throne. Full attention on the knight that stood before her. “What news do you bring?”

“The rumors we’ve heard are true. The Mushroom Kingdom has become the home to two humans.” The hall erupted into frantic whispers, the knight ignoring this and continuing, “They’ve defeated King Bowser twice by their own hands. Further, there are now tales of one being able to defeat an army of ghosts.”

The whispers turned to rumbles of disbelief. 

“Further information,” the knight raised his voice to calm the group down, “provided to us say that these humans appear to have the powers of Firebrand and Thunderhand abilities.”

That caused a hush over the hall. The surprised quiet only broken when a hearty laugh echoed. Queen Bean standing, arms wide with a smile filled with joy on her face. “Then our time has arrived! Send word out to Gigi and Merri. They will be sent out as soon as possible to offer their expertise. Prince Peasley!”

Already by the throne’s side, a young being stepped forward. Golden hair, color a perfect match to his bright green skin, flowed freely as he moved. Gloved hand resting comfortably on the hilt of his sword. “Yes, my queen?”

“I will ask of you to act as the royal representative to the BeanBean Kingdom. Keep everyone safe and make strong connections with our new allies.”

“Of course.”

“Excellent. I feel as if a new chapter is beginning.”

_+_+_+_+_+_+_

Hello all! I would like to take this time to thank you for reading these stories! I didn't think I would be making something like this in my life, nor see the support that I have with it. I can't thank you all who's read, liked, reblogged all my work.

I will note that this collection of 'Yellow, Purple, Red, Green' will be going on a bit of a break. Just to give myself time to start working on the next part.

Meaning this story is the end of Season 1 and Season 2 will start up in about a month-ish. I just want to give myself time to prep as best I can for this.

I will have more stories coming. But for this collection, I just wanted to give heads up.

Thank you all again! I can't thank you enough for all the support.

[theovergrowth]

The Reunion

(( oh boy guys this got long but I’ll summarize everything important at the bottom if you don’t wanna read but wanna know what happened lmao ))

The screams of panicked animals and smell of fire brought him out of his van and into the night. A wildfire deeper in the forest surrounding the camp ground. The initial instinct to help kicked in, sending him running through the tree line until his next instinct hit. The hot glow of fire froze him in his tracks for a moment, senses suddenly flooded with the terribly, deeply terribly, familiar smell of smoke and the popping of flame.

What snapped him out of his stupor was the sight of a nest falling from its perch. Again he flung forward, throwing himself to catch the little home just before it landed.

3 eggs. They couldn’t stand this heat long, he needed to-!

His leg was overtaken with a blistering heat as his pant leg caught. A strained and frightened scream escaped his mouth and he briefly considered the possibility that he was in real danger before the fire unnaturally just… pulled away, retreating at an alarming pace. In fact, most of the surrounding flames followed suit, before arriving at what Titus realized with a new horror was it’s origin.

A humanoid figure, frighteningly tall with black smoke pouring from their body, clothed in dark soot-stained ranch wear. They were slowly walking forward, so slow that he nearly didn’t realize they were approaching at all, staring with fiery eyes straight into Titus’ soul.

He held the nest close to his chest. His leg was in horrible pain, his heart was beating loudly in his ears. Memories of The Overgrowth flooded forward; The violence and fury of nature filled his senses.

He was going to die here. He would die in fire just as his father before him, and it would be at the hands of a being he found familiar; a being like The Overgrowth. It was a fitting end, really, but terrifying nonetheless.

“Titus?”

Wha..?

The figure was less than ten feet away now. Eyes focusing slowly through the blinding light of the flames, Titus could just barely see it’s face; his stern features now softened ever-so slightly with muted worry and surprise, small stumps on each side of his head where antlers once were, golden eyes widened. Why were they so familiar..? Why did Titus want to cry?

“…Father..?”

—————————

They were sitting by Titus’ home now, a van that seemed far too small for him to in be all day, the campfire Macrides lit with a snap of his fingers between them. His son, who had been but a bright-eyed young boy only a year ago, was now a tired and terrified young man.

Macrides didn’t know what to say. What could he say, knowing that he had been gone for so long?

He said nothing.

“You died.” Titus broke the silence for him, though in a rather accusatory tone he found unfamiliar from his son.

“Mmhmm.” What else was he supposed to say, really?

Titus waited for a moment, expecting something more that wasn’t coming. “An’- an’ now you’re here. Not dead.”

“Not dead.”

He could sense a growing confusion and subsequent frustration, slowly turning to anger. To kill a snake…

“My body died, but my essence went back to the Fae Realm. My body started to recover here as much as it could, but the rest of me… didn’t have a clear place to go. You were the King of the High Desert, and ya can’t have an archfae in charge o’ nothin’, so it… started fresh.”

To demonstrate, he stuck his hand into the fire, allowing the flames to gently brush through his claws. Titus grew more unnerved, sure, but he was also growing clarity deep down; the feeling of a still pond in the eye of a hurricane.

“It was only a year ago.”

“It was 10 years ago,” Titus stated bluntly, staring down at his bruised and slightly burnt knuckles. When had his son become the type to earn bruised knuckles?

“I know. But not there.“

Against his own judgement he could not help but feel that, if he had explained more about the Fae Realm or his own nature when Titus was young, Titus could have had a better chance at understanding. He just hadn’t thought it would—

A sudden chill came through the air, shaking Macrides to the core. Titus looked at him, eyes wide with the horror of knowing. There was another thing he had missed.

“Oh god, The Sons. Father, they, they’re-”

“I know,” Macrides stopped him, still slightly shaken but feeling confident that he knew this part. “I know, they’re gone. Commune too.”

Titus continued to stare, frozen in place.

He continued. “I heard about everything. The Overgrowth. The fightin’. Got filled in when I was lookin’ for ya.”

Macrides reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, Titus tensing as he did so.

“I’m proud of ya, boy.”

“…You what?”

—————————

Titus looked, really looked, at Macrides. He looked at his scarred face, the burnt stumps that were once large and bountiful antlers, the once flowered dark brown hair turned black and smelling of soot.

He saw his father. He saw a stranger.

He saw a man happy about the worst thing to ever happen in his life.

“I’m proud,” Macrides insisted, obviously not understanding (when had Macrides been the kind to not understand?). “You protected your family. You were strong. That was all I ever wanted for ya.”

The trees creaked, straining under their own growing weight. Titus yanked his shoulder away from Macrides grasp, ignoring the confused look on his face.

“I didn’t want to be strong,” he growled, eyes stinging at the corners. “I wanted to be a kid! I wanted to act like one!”

“Now, calm down for a secon-“

“Calm down? Don’t you dare tell me to calm down, I lost everything!”

“Are… Do you blame me for that?”

“…Y’know what? Maybe… maybe I do!” How had he never pieced it together..?

That confusion didn’t seem to last long, because suddenly Macrides looked closer to how Titus remembered; stoic and unreadable. But Titus could smell the beginnings of an unstoppable wildfire.

“You have to grow up sometime. I’m sorry if me dying affected you-“

“What?”

“-but maybe you can be mature and consider that I didn’t choose that. And maybe consider that I’ve been tryin’ my damnest to get back for ya while I was without a body and bein’ hunted for treason.”

Oh, really now?

“Well I’m sorry ya had a tough go of it, bein’ hunted for a year. Meanwhile, I’ve been bein’ hunted down by insane fanatics that— fancy this— you created for fuckin’ 10 years. And, ha, funniest part! I was fuckin’ TWELVE and forced to kill a bunch of innocent folks all because my even more insane father was also a huge piece of shit recluse!”

Suddenly his father shot up from his seat, the fire rising with him to an intensity that made Titus fall back.

—————————

What was he doing?

Looking down, he could only see kindling.

Nobody was allowed to say those kinds of things to him!

Who was he?

Teach him a lesson! This is survival! This is strength! And won’t it go up so nicely?

It would… it would go up very nicely. It was very dry tonight, it would all go up so so fast and bright.

“Wait, wait, please,” it said, voice shaking as it crawled away on it’s back. Macrides stepped forward to follow. “Father? Father, come on, this, this ain’t right!”

Macintosh? No.

“I-It ain’t supposed to be like this, this, it’s just too-!”

Macrides came back, recognized his son, and suddenly was met with something he hadn’t been… quite prepared for.

A swift kick to his chest was, for maybe the first time in hundreds of years, enough to send him flying back about 10 feet before slamming painfully into a tree with a terrible crunch, wood splintering into his skin and his bones ribs cracking.

He could see Titus, that much was true. But this was not Titus.

Macrides had found himself face to face with The Overgrowth.

—————————

He had forgotten how it felt to be It.

Him, a tiny and frightened frog surrounded by a world that seemed only to bring hardship. The Overgrowth, a large tarantula protecting him from anything the world could throw his way.

Even if it threw something as big as realizing that things had never truly been good. Even if his father, perfect in Titus’ mind since childhood, turned out to be a monster, one who created the people who ruined and continue to ruin his life. Even if the world fell apart around him, The Wilds would give him The Overgrowth.

He didn’t want this.

“Titus,” his father rasped, trying and failing to stand from where he had fallen. “It’s ok.”

The smell of fear. Uncertainty. Blood. It flicked its head in an upwards nod, making the tree form around Macrides arms and stabbing into his flesh with long thorns to keep him in place. He hissed, but did not scream. Of course he didn’t.

“I’m sorry for snappin’ at ya,” Macrides placated, that tension heavy in every part of his body. “But if ya just let me help, I can-“

He wasn’t looking Titus in the eyes, glancing slightly lower instead. Instinct said to keep Macrides in his sight, but…

His arm was wooden. A flexible wood had taken the place of his skin. Trying to move his fingers only solidified what had happened; his hand held 5 gnarled fingers, each ending in sharp points. He hadn’t even felt it happening.

Touching his face made things worse. It had already reached his jaw.

He was going back. He was hurting someone and…

It felt so good to be the one in charge for once.

“Fuck off,” The Overgrowth growled, tears stinging his eyes as he sprinted to the van, fumbling with his keys before starting it up and peeling down the dirt road.

—————————

Macrides watched the van disappear down the road, taking his son and The Overgrowth with it.

He couldn’t stop playing what he remembered over and over in his mind as he ripped himself free and sat by the now-abandoned campsite, glancing around at the few small things Titus had forgotten in the hurry as his wounds began to heal as much as they could.

Had he really made a mistake? Was all of this really his fault?

…

“Damn,” he cursed under his breath, scrubbing his hands over his face vigorously, not caring that he was leaving streaks of blood all over. Things were so much easier before he died… Had he really come back so different?

…

“Damn.”

There was only one way to fix this. The Sons were out there somewhere, lost, without guidance, and viciously hunting Titus because of it. If he could find them… maybe he could talk some sense into them. They were his family, after all. 10 years was long for a human, but to The Twins? It would be nothing. A vacation, at most.

It was probably all just a misunderstanding anyways. The Twins wouldn’t actually go through with this kind of thing just because he was gone, right?

‘Only one way to find out for sure!’ the creature laughed as Macrides cleaned up and walked into the distance, campsite burning as he left.

(( Summary: There’s a wildfire near Titus’ camp, he runs in to try and help the animals get out. His leg gets burned, but the fire retracts and boom! It’s Macrides! But different! ))

(( They talk by Titus’ van, Macrides tells Titus he was very proud to hear about The Overgrowth and Titus gets very upset! Emotions climb, Titus blames Macrides for the sorry state of his life, Macrides gets angry and looses control to The Wildfire briefly, threatening and sending Titus over the edge which reawakens The Overgrowth. Titus/The Overgrowth kicks Macrides back 10 feet, smashing him into a tree, stabs him with thorns and Macrides starts feeling nervous and unsure, for once. ))

(( Titus realizes whats happening when he sees that his arm is wooden and clawed, with the wood that became his skin stretching all the way up towards his face. He tells Macrides to fuck off, gets in the van and speeds away, adding Macrides himself to the list of people Titus is running from. ))

(( Macrides sits down and kinda goes… damn. Did I fuck up? Then decides the way to fix it is to go find and talk to The Sons, because obviously it must be some sort of misunderstanding to do with Titus being human because humans are silly and ten years isn’t actually that long, right? What a nice reunion! ))

[sunshinechae]

NETFLIX: seung eunchae of ‘all of us are dead’ shares zombie apocalypse surival strategies

last year’s netflix hit show ‘all of us are dead’ has raked up thousands of hours of viewtime since it’s release, making the most viewed on netflix top 10 for 11 consecutive weeks and getting itself confirmed for a second season. a little over a year after it’s initial release, netflix has sat down with seung eunchae, one of the shows lead stars, to revisit the show and talk about her character, the filming process, her own zombie apocalypse emergency plan and her hopes and expectations for the upcoming season as we continue to wait for it’s release

written by: kang jungah - 15/06/2023

could you briefly introduce yourself and your character on the show?

hi, i’m seung eunchae, and i play choi namra. she’s the class president of class 2-5 which the show is centered around though neither or her classmates take the title very seriously because of circumstances. she’s the top student so she’s very smart but she’s also very quiet, causing her classmates to make fun of her. over the course of the apocalypse however, she grows more protective of her classmates, living up to her title of class president.

do you think you’re very similiar to your character?

ah, not really, like i said, namra is very smart and silent, i’m not really either of those things. through the course of the show she becomes a strong, reliable figure for her friends to look up towards, though i don’t know if that’s much like me either. namra and i really are very different, but it was very fun to get into her mind and get to play someone so different from me.

how did you prepare for the role?

while preparing to play namra, i thought a lot of my own class president from back in high school. we all relied on her a lot and she took good care of us, i wanted to be able to portray namra like that too. i think that might have made it easier to play namra. at first she doesn’t feel very competent in her role, which i found very relatable, but slowly she gains more and more confidence. i tried really hard to show that trajectory well.

how do you think you would fare in a zombie apocalypse? what would your strategy be?

ah... i’d die immediately wouldn’t it? i don’t think i have many skills that are very handy in such a scenario and i’m not that brave either. i’d probably get eaten before i even realized a zombie apocalypse was happening... but that’s probably for the best. if i would manage to survive though, i think my strategy would be to stick closely to my friends who i can rely on and trust. i think they would do much better than me, i’d like to help them as much as i could too and if things were to go wrong after all, i think i’d feel at ease knowing i met my end together with them. ah, that’s a bit morbid isn’t it? 

other than in the confirmed second season of ‘all of us are dead’ what projects can fans expect to see you in next? what kind of role would you like to act in?

i had a movie coming out earlier this year! it’s called ditto and it’s a remake of an older film, i hope that everyone who hasn’t seen it yet will watch it of course. other than that there isn’t that much i can talk about yet but i hope to meet fans through multiple projects next year and onwards. i think i’d like to do some more romance series, i love cheesy dramas so much, and some more coming of age stories as they resonate a lot with where i am at in life right now. maybe a little less horror, i’m quite a scaredy cat myself and i’d like to not be covered in blood and sweat for a bit. though i am of course very excited to come back for season 2. maybe. as that’s of course, unconfirmed for now.

speaking of season 2, what are your hopes and expectations for it? anything you can reveal just yet?

my biggest hope is of course that i can come back and we can see more of choi namra, she’s a character that’s very dear to me. but like i said, that’s nothing i can confirm just yet. i think my biggest hope is that we can focus a lot on the surivors of class 2-5 and how they navigate the aftermath of the first season, they lost a lot of their friends and loved ones and have to decide how to move forward from that. anything i can reveal? hmh, i suppose i can say that as of right now, season 2 will continue to focus on themes of surivival, but in a very different way from the first. that’s all i can say for now!

that would be all for today, thank you for talking to us, is there any closing remark you’d want to give the viewers?

thank you for having me too i had a lot of fun talking about all of this today! to the fans i want to say thank you thank you thank you for all the support. i’m glad to hear so many people enjoyed a project we all worked so hard on. i hope we can meet again for season 2!